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Questions & Answers about La zuppa è un poco salata.
Why does è have a grave accent instead of just e?
Because è (with an accent) is the third‐person singular of the verb essere (“to be”). Without the accent, e simply means “and.”
Why do we say La zuppa instead of just Zuppa?
In Italian you normally use the definite article before a noun when making a general statement about it. So La zuppa literally means “the soup,” even though in English we’d just say “soup” in a sentence like “Soup is a little salty.”
Why is salata ending in “-a”?
Because adjectives in Italian agree in gender and number with the noun they describe. Zuppa is feminine singular, so the adjective takes the feminine singular ending: salata.
What exactly does un poco mean here?
Un poco literally means “a little.” In La zuppa è un poco salata, it functions like an adverbial phrase modifying salata, so the whole means “The soup is a little salty.”
Is it correct to write un poco, or should I use un po’?
Both are understood, but the most common (and more colloquial) form in modern Italian is un po’ (with an apostrophe replacing the dropped “o”). Un poco is fully correct but sounds slightly more formal or literary.
Can I drop the un and just say La zuppa è poco salata?
Yes. Poco can act as an adverb on its own, so La zuppa è poco salata is correct and means “The soup isn’t very salty.” By contrast, un poco salata emphasizes that it has a small degree of saltiness rather than being undersalted.
Could I use another adverb instead of un poco?
Absolutely. For example, leggermente (“slightly”) works nicely: La zuppa è leggermente salata. You can also say poco salata, appena salata, or even un filo salata in very informal speech.
Is the word order flexible? Could I say Un po’ salata è la zuppa?
Italian word order is fairly flexible, but the most natural, neutral form is La zuppa è un po’ salata. Fronting Un po’ salata for emphasis is possible in poetry or expressive prose, but it sounds odd in everyday conversation.
What part of speech is poco when it appears in un poco salata?
Here un poco functions as an adverbial phrase modifying the adjective salata. Even though poco can be an adjective (“few,” “little”), in this fixed expression it works like an adverb.