Breakdown of Il cane abbandonato dorme sul prato.
il cane
the dog
dormire
to sleep
su
on
il prato
the lawn
abbandonato
abandoned
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Questions & Answers about Il cane abbandonato dorme sul prato.
Why is abbandonato placed after cane instead of before?
In Italian, descriptive adjectives—especially those formed from past participles—typically follow the noun they modify. Abbandonato here functions as an adjective (a past participle used attributively) describing cane, so it comes after the noun. If you placed it before (abbandonato cane), it would sound awkward or poetic and could change the emphasis.
Why does abbandonato end in -o? How would it change for feminine or plural?
Adjectives in Italian agree in gender and number with the noun they modify. Cane is masculine singular, so abbandonato takes the masculine singular ending -o. For a female dog you’d say la cagna abbandonata (ending -a), and for plural you'd use i cani abbandonati (masculine plural) or le cagne abbandonate (feminine plural).
Why do we use il before cane? Could we say un cane here?
Il is the definite article (“the”) and signals a specific dog (perhaps one previously mentioned or assumed known). Un is the indefinite article (“a”). If you wanted to introduce an unknown dog, you could indeed say Un cane abbandonato dorme sul prato (“A abandoned dog sleeps on the lawn”). Using il makes it “the abandoned dog.”
Why is sul used instead of su il? How do these contractions work?
In Italian, certain prepositions contract with the definite article: su + il = sul, a + il = al, in + il = nel, di + il = del, and so on. So instead of saying su il prato, you contract to sul prato. With indefinite articles like un, no contraction occurs: su un prato is fine.
Why is there no pronoun like egli or lui before dorme? What does dorme signify?
Italian is a pro-drop language, meaning subject pronouns are often omitted because the verb ending conveys the person and number. Dorme is the third-person singular present indicative of dormire (“to sleep”), so we know the subject is “he, she, or it.” Here it refers back to il cane.
What kind of verb is dormire, and how is dorme formed?
Dormire is a regular -ire verb. In the present indicative, you drop -ire and add the endings: io dormo, tu dormi, lui/lei dorme, noi dormiamo, voi dormite, loro dormono. So dorme is simply dormire conjugated for lui/lei.
Could we use a present continuous like sta dormendo instead of dorme?
Yes, you can express an ongoing action in Italian with stare + gerund: Il cane abbandonato sta dormendo sul prato. However, Italian often prefers the simple present (dorme) even when English would use the continuous (is sleeping). Both are correct; the simple present is more common.
Could we say nel prato instead of sul prato? Is there a difference?
You can say Il cane abbandonato dorme nel prato, meaning “the dog sleeps in the meadow/lawn,” which implies it’s within that area. Sul prato literally “on the lawn” emphasizes being on top of the grass surface. Both are grammatically correct but carry slightly different spatial nuances: sul = on, nel = in/within.