Breakdown of Prendo l’annaffiatoio verde e innaffio tutte le piante del balcone.
io
I
prendere
to take
di
of
e
and
tutto
all
il balcone
the balcony
la pianta
the plant
verde
green
innaffiare
to water
l'annaffiatoio
the watering can
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Questions & Answers about Prendo l’annaffiatoio verde e innaffio tutte le piante del balcone.
Why is the subject pronoun io omitted, and how do we know who is doing the action?
In Italian, subject pronouns like io (“I”) are often dropped because the verb ending itself tells you the person. Here, both prendo and innaffio end in -o, which marks the first person singular present tense. Even without io, we clearly understand “I take” and “I water.”
What tense and mood are prendo and innaffio?
They are in the present indicative tense (modo indicativo, tempo presente). You use this form for actions happening now, habits, or general statements. So prendo = “I take/grab” and innaffio = “I water.”
Why is there an apostrophe in l’annaffiatoio, and what does it stand for?
L’ is the elided form of the definite article il (“the”) before a vowel-initial word. Instead of saying il annaffiatoio, you drop the i in il and write l’ + annaffiatoio to make pronunciation smoother.
Why use the definite article l’ (the) in l’annaffiatoio verde, rather than un annaffiatoio verde (a green watering can)?
Choosing l’ implies a specific, known object—the green watering can you’re about to grab. Using un would introduce it as any green watering can in general, without specifying which one.
Why does the adjective verde come after the noun (annaffiatoio verde)?
In Italian the normal word order for most descriptive adjectives is noun + adjective. Saying annaffiatoio verde (“watering can green”) is standard. Placing verde before the noun (il verde annaffiatoio) sounds poetic, emphatic, or stylistically marked.
Why is tutte used instead of tutti, and why do we say tutte le piante?
Piante is feminine plural, so the quantifier tutti must agree in gender and number, becoming tutte. Also, quantifiers like tutti/tutte require the definite article before plural nouns: hence tutte le piante = “all the plants.”
Could we drop the article and say tutte piante instead of tutte le piante?
No. In Italian, when you use tutti/tutte to mean “all,” you must include the definite article (le for feminine plural). Dropping le would be ungrammatical in standard Italian.
What does del balcone mean, and why not use sul balcone (“on the balcony”)?
Del is the contraction of di + il, so del balcone = “of the balcony” or “the balcony’s.” It specifies which plants you water—the ones belonging to or associated with the balcony. You could also say sul balcone (“on the balcony”) to stress location. Both are correct:
• piante del balcone = the balcony’s plants
• piante sul balcone = plants on the balcony
Why does annaffiatoio have a double f?
The verb innaffiare (to water) comes from Latin ad- (“to”) + affiare. The prefix ad- assimilates to an- before f, doubling the f sound. This assimilation remains in the noun annaffiatoio (“watering can”).