Il poggiamestolo evita che il tavolo si sporchi di sugo.

The spoon rest prevents the table from getting stained with sauce.

Breakdown of Il poggiamestolo evita che il tavolo si sporchi di sugo.

• il tavolo: the table
• di: of
• che: that
• il sugo: the sauce
• il poggiamestolo: the spoon rest
• evitare: to prevent
• sporcarsi: to get dirty

Questions & Answers about Il poggiamestolo evita che il tavolo si sporchi di sugo.

What does il poggiamestolo mean, and how is this word formed?

Il poggiamestolo is a compound noun used in Italian kitchens. It literally combines poggiar(e) (“to rest/lay down”) + mestolo (“ladle”). In practice, it’s a “ladle rest” or “spoon rest,” i.e. a small stand to hold a stirring spoon or ladle and keep the table or countertop clean.

Why does the sentence use evita che il tavolo si sporchi instead of evita di sporcare il tavolo?

Italian distinguishes two patterns with evitare:

• evitare di + infinitive when the subject of both verbs is the same:
  “Evito di sporcare il tavolo” (I avoid dirtying the table).
• evitare che + subjunctive when the subjects differ: here, il poggiamestolo (subject of “evita”) vs. il tavolo (subject of “si sporchi”). In that case you need che
  • subjunctive:
    “Il poggiamestolo evita che il tavolo si sporchi.”

Why is si sporchi in the subjunctive mood?

The conjunction evitare che is one of the triggers for the subjunctive in Italian because it expresses prevention or fear of something happening. After evitare che, the verb in the subordinate clause must be in the subjunctive:
…evita che il tavolo si sporchi.

Is si sporchi a reflexive form, a passive, or something else?

It comes from the pronominal verb sporcarsi, which literally means “to get dirty.” In this sentence:

• It’s not a true reflexive (the table isn’t doing the action to itself by intention).
• It functions like an intransitive/pronominal verb meaning “to become dirty” (so semantically close to a passive: “the table becomes/gets dirty”).

Why does the sentence say di sugo and not con il sugo or del sugo?

With sporcarsi you use di + noun (no article) to indicate the substance causing the stain:

• si sporca di sugo = “gets dirty with sauce.”
  Using con il sugo would stress the instrument or means (“with the sauce”), and del sugo (partitive) would imply “some of that sauce” – less idiomatic here when speaking generically.

How do you pronounce the double gg in poggiames­tolo? Is it different from a single g?

Yes. Double gg in Italian indicates a longer/geminated sound. Before i it’s the affricate /dʒ/ (like English “j” in “judge”), held slightly longer than a single g. So po-ggia is pronounced [podʒːa], with a noticeable length on the /dʒ/ sound.

Why is the pronoun si placed before sporchi? Could I say sporchi si?

In finite verb forms (indicative/subjunctive/conditional), clitic pronouns are proclitic—they go before the verb. Enclitic (attached after the verb) happens only with the infinitive, gerund or imperative:

• Subjunctive: si sporchi (correct)
• Infinitive: sporcar­si (correct)
  So sporchi si would be ungrammatical in a subjunctive clause.

Can I rewrite the clause using a periphrastic passive, e.g. venga sporcato?

Yes. Italian allows a passive periphrastic with venire + past participle in the subjunctive:
“Il poggiamestolo evita che il tavolo venga sporcato di sugo.”
This is more explicit as a passive (“…that the table be dirtied”), but the meaning stays essentially the same.