Breakdown of Il libraio ci mostrerà un saggio raro che nessuno ha ancora letto.
leggere
to read
che
that
ancora
yet
ci
us
mostrare
to show
raro
rare
nessuno
no one
il libraio
the bookseller
il saggio
the essay
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Questions & Answers about Il libraio ci mostrerà un saggio raro che nessuno ha ancora letto.
What does ci mean in this sentence?
Ci is an indirect-object pronoun meaning “to us” or “for us.” Here it shows that the bookseller is going to show something to us.
Why is ci placed before mostrerà instead of after it?
In Italian, clitic pronouns (mi, ti, ci, vi, lo, la, etc.) usually precede a finite (conjugated) verb. Since mostrerà is a simple future form, ci must come before it.
What tense is mostrerà, and how is it formed?
Mostrerà is the third-person singular future indicative of mostrare (“to show”). To form the future of ‑ARE verbs, you change the ‑a of the infinitive ending to ‑e and then add the future ending:
– mostraRE → mostrar- + ‑ò → mostrerò
Why is it un saggio raro instead of un raro saggio?
In Italian, many adjectives can appear before or after the noun. Placing raro after saggio is the neutral, unmarked position (“an essay that is rare”). If you said un raro saggio, it’s also correct but more stylistic or poetic, giving a slightly different emphasis.
What part of speech is saggio, and how do we know it’s a noun here and not the adjective “wise”?
Here saggio is a masculine singular noun meaning “essay” or “scholarly article.” We know this because it is preceded by the indefinite article un and modified by raro—patterns typical for a noun. If it were the adjective “wise,” you’d see it modifying a noun (e.g., uomo saggio, “wise man”).
What function does che have in che nessuno ha ancora letto?
Che is the relative pronoun “that.” It introduces a relative clause referring back to un saggio raro, i.e., “an essay that no one has yet read.”
Why isn’t there a non before ha even though the clause is negative?
Italian negative indefinites like nessuno (“no one”) carry the negation by themselves when they act as the subject. You do not add non before the verb in that case.
Why is ancora placed between ha and letto?
Ancora (“yet” in this context) is an adverb of time. In compound tenses (auxiliary + past participle), such adverbs normally sit between the auxiliary verb (ha) and the past participle (letto).
What gender and number is il libraio, and how would you say it in the plural or feminine form?
Il libraio is masculine singular (“the bookseller,” male).
– Feminine singular: la libraia
– Masculine plural: i librai
– Feminine plural: le libraie