Learn Hardcore Italian: Riempio la bottiglietta d’acqua alla fontanella del parco. - I fill the little bottle with water at the park fountain.

Riempio la bottiglietta d’acqua alla fontanella del parco.

I fill the little bottle with water at the park fountain.

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Questions & Answers about Riempio la bottiglietta d’acqua alla fontanella del parco.

Why is bottiglietta used instead of bottiglia?

The suffix -etta is a diminutive. It makes bottiglia (“bottle”) into bottiglietta, meaning “small bottle” or “water‐bottle.” Italians often use the diminutive to refer to single‐serve plastic bottles of water.

What does d’acqua mean and why is there an apostrophe?

D’acqua is simply di + acqua (“of water” or “some water”). When di comes before a vowel, you drop the “i” and replace it with an apostrophe: di + acqua → d’ + acqua → d’acqua.

Why is there no article before acqua (“the water”)? Shouldn’t it be dell’acqua?

Here d’ expresses a partitive sense (“some water”) rather than a definite one. Think of “I fill the bottle with water,” not “with the water” (as if you had a specific water already introduced). If you said dell’acqua, it would be di + la + acqua, meaning “of the water” (a specific water).

Why is the verb riempio followed by di and not con?