Se il posto vicino a te è vuoto, poggia pure la borsa lì.

If the seat next to you is empty, feel free to set your bag there.

Breakdown of Se il posto vicino a te è vuoto, poggia pure la borsa lì.

• essere: to be
• vicino: near
• la borsa: the bag
• se: if

Questions & Answers about Se il posto vicino a te è vuoto, poggia pure la borsa lì.

What does posto mean in this context?

Here posto means a seat or space (for example on a chair, bench or train) next to you. It’s a noun meaning “spot” rather than the English verb “to post.”

Why is it vicino a te rather than vicino te?

In Italian, prepositions like vicino require another preposition (a) before a pronoun. After that you use the tonic (disjunctive) pronoun te. So you must say vicino a te, not vicino te.

Why is è needed before vuoto?

Vuoto is an adjective meaning “empty.” To state that something is empty, you need the verb essere (“to be”). Hence è vuoto means “is empty.” You cannot drop è in a predicate: unlike English, Italian doesn’t allow “the seat empty.”

What is the nuance of using poggia here?

Poggia is the second-person singular imperative of poggiare, which means “to rest” or “to place gently.” It’s a bit softer or more polite than the more general metti (“put”). It suggests placing your bag down carefully.