Breakdown of Il cane mette la zampa sul tavolo.
il cane
the dog
su
on
il tavolo
the table
mettere
to put
la zampa
the paw
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Questions & Answers about Il cane mette la zampa sul tavolo.
What tense and person is mette, and how is it formed?
mette is the third person singular present indicative of mettere (“to put”). It comes from the stem mett- plus the ending -e, which marks “he/she/it” in the present tense.
Why is it la zampa and not lo zampa?
zampa is a feminine noun (it ends in -a), so it takes the feminine singular article la. lo is the masculine singular article used before certain consonant clusters (e.g., lo studente) and does not pair with feminine nouns.
Why does the sentence use la zampa instead of a possessive like its paw?
In Italian, when the possessor is clear (here, the dog), body parts typically use the definite article rather than a possessive adjective. So you say la zampa instead of la sua zampa. The latter isn’t wrong, but can sound redundant.
What is sul, and why is it used instead of su il?
sul is a contraction of the preposition su (“on”) and the definite article il (“the”). Italian often merges prepositions with articles:
• su + il = sul
• su + la = sulla
• su + i = sui, etc.
Can I use sopra instead of su, and is there a difference?
Yes, sopra il tavolo also means “on the table” or “above the table.”
• su is more general (“on”).
• sopra can imply “directly above” or “on top of.”
In many contexts they’re interchangeable, but sopra may feel more precise.
Could we replace mette with appoggia, and would the meaning change?
Yes. appoggia la zampa sul tavolo means “rests/leans the paw on the table,” whereas mette simply means “puts.” appoggiare emphasizes placing something so it stays supported on a surface.
Is the word order fixed, or can we say Sul tavolo il cane mette la zampa?
Italian word order is fairly flexible. Starting with Sul tavolo is possible for emphasis (“On the table, the dog puts its paw”). The neutral order remains Subject-Verb-Object: Il cane mette la zampa sul tavolo.
How would you form the plural of this sentence?
You pluralize both the subject and the object (and adjust the article):
• I cani mettono le zampe sul tavolo. (The dogs put the paws on the table.)
If you also pluralize tavolo:
• I cani mettono le zampe sui tavoli. (The dogs put the paws on the tables.)