Breakdown of Poggia la tazza sul comodino prima di dormire.
dormire
to sleep
su
on
di
of
la tazza
the cup
prima
before
il comodino
the bedside table
poggiare
to put
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Questions & Answers about Poggia la tazza sul comodino prima di dormire.
What does poggia mean in this sentence?
Poggia is the second-person singular (tu) imperative form of the verb poggiare, which means “to rest,” “to place,” or “to set down” something gently. Here it’s telling someone informally “place (the cup) . . .”
Why is poggiare used instead of mettere or posare?
All three verbs can mean “to put” or “to place.”
- mettere is the most general (“to put”).
- posare often implies setting something down carefully.
- poggiare emphasizes letting something rest or lean on a surface.
In everyday speech, you could swap them, but poggiare suggests a gentle placement.
Why is it la tazza and not una tazza?
Using la tazza (the cup) implies you’re referring to a specific cup that both speaker and listener know about. Una tazza (a cup) would introduce a non-specific cup: “Place a cup on the nightstand.”
Why is it sul comodino and not sopra il comodino or in comodino?
- su
- il contracts to sul, meaning “on the.”
- sopra can also mean “above” or “on,” but su is far more common when specifying where to put something.
- in would mean “inside,” which doesn’t fit for a nightstand’s top surface.
Why isn’t there an article before prima di dormire?
After prima di (before + infinitive), you always use the bare infinitive (dormire) without an article. If you added an article (prima del dormire), you’d be turning “sleeping” into a noun (“before the act of sleeping”), which sounds more formal or abstract.
Can I move prima di dormire to the front of the sentence?
Yes. You can say: Prima di dormire, poggia la tazza sul comodino. Italian allows fronting time expressions for emphasis or style.
Is poggia la tazza… formal or informal?
This is the informal (tu) imperative. For formal (Lei), you would use the third-person subjunctive form: Poggi la tazza sul comodino prima di dormire.
Could you use metti instead of poggia here?
Absolutely. Metti la tazza sul comodino prima di dormire is perfectly natural and means the same: “Put the cup on the nightstand before you sleep.”