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Questions & Answers about L'annaffiatoio è vuoto.
Why does L'annaffiatoio use an apostrophe, and what happened to il?
In Italian the singular definite articles il (masculine) and la (feminine) drop their final vowel before a noun beginning with another vowel. That dropped vowel is shown by an apostrophe. So il annaffiatoio becomes l’annaffiatoio.
How do you pronounce annaffiatoio, and where is the word stress?
You can break it into syllables as an-naf-fia-to-io. The stress falls on the penultimate syllable (the one before the final “io”), so it sounds like an-naf-FYA-to-yo. In phonetic terms: /an.nafˈfja.to.jo/.
Why does annaffiatoio have double n and double f?
Italian distinguishes single vs. doubled (geminate) consonants. The noun comes from the verb innaffiare (to water), which itself is spelled with nn and ff. When you form the noun, you keep those doubled consonants.
How is the noun annaffiatoio formed from the verb, and what does the suffix -atoio mean?
You take the past participle stem of innaffiare (innaffiato) and add the suffix -io, creating -atoio, which often turns verbs into names of tools or instruments. So annaffiatoio literally means “that which waters.”
Why does è have a grave accent (è) instead of a plain e, and how do I know it’s the verb “to be”?
A plain e without an accent is the conjunction “and.” The grave-accented è marks the 3rd-person singular present of essere (to be). The accent tells you it’s “is” and not “and.”
Why is the adjective vuoto placed after è, and why not vuota or vuoti?
- In Italian, predicative adjectives (those linked by verbs like essere) normally follow the verb, so you say è vuoto, not vuoto è.
- Adjectives agree in gender and number with their noun. Annaffiatoio is masculine singular, so the matching form is vuoto (not vuota for feminine or vuoti for plural).
Can I drop the article like in English and say Annaffiatoio è vuoto?
No. Unlike English, Italian usually requires a definite article before common nouns in simple statements. Omitting it sounds ungrammatical in most contexts.
How would I say “The watering can is not empty” in Italian?
Place non before the verb: L’annaffiatoio non è vuoto.