L’odore delle patate fritte riempie la cucina.

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Breakdown of L’odore delle patate fritte riempie la cucina.

• la cucina: the kitchen
• riempire: to fill
• la patata: the potato

Questions & Answers about L’odore delle patate fritte riempie la cucina.

Why is there an apostrophe in L’odore?

Italian uses elision when a definite article ending in a vowel meets a noun starting with a vowel. Here, lo + odore becomes l’odore: the o of lo is dropped and replaced by an apostrophe to avoid two vowels in a row.

What does delle mean, and how is it formed?

delle is the contraction of di + le. It can function as:

• a partitive article meaning “some” (e.g. delle patate = some potatoes)
• a genitive/possessive meaning “of the” (e.g. l’odore delle patate = the smell of the potatoes)

In this sentence it shows possession: the smell of the fried potatoes.

Why is the adjective fritte in the feminine plural form, and why does it come after patate?

• patate is feminine plural, so the adjective must agree: fritto → fritte (past participle of friggere, used adjectivally).
• In Italian most descriptive adjectives follow the noun. Hence patate fritte = “fried potatoes.”

What is the subject of the sentence, and why is riempie in the third-person singular?