Learn Hardcore Italian: Una goccia di vernice cade sulla ciabatta, ma si pulisce facilmente. - A drop of paint falls on the slipper, but it cleans off easily.

In Italian, ciabatta can refer to a slipper (house shoe), a flip-flop, or—even more colloquially—a power strip. Here, since paint “falls” on it, it most likely means a slipper or flip-flop, not an electrical device.

Why is it sulla ciabatta instead of su la ciabatta?

Italian prepositions merge with definite articles. Su + la becomes sulla, just as in + lo becomes nello, di + il becomes del, etc.

Why is si pulisce facilmente used instead of a passive with essere or venire?

Italian often uses the “impersonal/passive si” to express “one cleans it” or “it can be cleaned.” It’s shorter and very common. You could also say viene pulita facilmente or è pulita facilmente, but si pulisce facilmente is more idiomatic.

Is the si in si pulisce reflexive or impersonal?

It’s impersonal (sometimes called the passive si). It doesn’t mean “it cleans itself,” but rather “it can be cleaned” or “people clean it easily,” similar to an English passive construction.

Why una goccia di vernice and not una goccia della vernice?

When you indicate material or content in Italian, you use the simple di. Una goccia di vernice = “a drop of paint,” without specifying which paint. Della would imply a specific, known paint (“a drop of the paint”).

What part of speech is facilmente, and how do you form it?

Facilmente is an adverb (“easily”). It’s formed by taking the adjective facile and adding -mente, the Italian equivalent of the English “-ly.”

Could you use però or tuttavia instead of ma here?

Yes. All three express contrast:

ma is the simplest and most common
però is slightly more emphatic
tuttavia is more formal or written style