Breakdown of Prendo un pasticcino al limone e gliene porto uno anche a Maria.
io
I
prendere
to take
e
and
portare
to bring
anche
also
a
to
ne
of them
uno
one
il pasticcino al limone
the lemon pastry
le
to her
Maria
Maria
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Questions & Answers about Prendo un pasticcino al limone e gliene porto uno anche a Maria.
Why is the present tense prendo used instead of the future tense prenderò?
In Italian you normally use the present tense to express immediate actions or decisions—especially when ordering food. So Prendo un pasticcino al limone literally means “I’m taking a lemon pastry,” and functions just like English I’ll have a lemon pastry.
What does pasticcino mean, and why use the diminutive form?
Pasticcino is the diminutive of pasticcio, so it refers to a small pastry or little cake. The suffix –ino often indicates smaller size (or affection). Here it simply tells you it’s an individual, bite-sized pastry.
Why say pasticcino al limone instead of pasticcino di limone?
When indicating flavor in Italian, you use a plus the definite article (in contraction al = a + il). Thus pasticcino al limone means “lemon-flavored pastry.” Di limone would more strictly mean “made of lemon,” but for flavors Italians almost always say al.
What does gliene stand for in gliene porto uno?
Gliene is the contraction of the indirect object pronoun gli (to him/her/them) plus the partitive pronoun ne (of it/them). Here gli refers to Maria (“to her”) and ne refers back to the pastries (“of them”). So gliene porto uno means “I bring her one of them.”
Why is it gliene and not le ne for Maria (a feminine name)?
In Italian, whenever you combine a third-person indirect object pronoun (gli or le) with ne, you always use gli. The combination gli + ne becomes gliene, regardless of the gender or number of the person receiving.
Why do the clitic pronouns go before porto, and what is the pronoun order?
Clitic pronouns generally precede a finite verb in Italian. When you stack them, the order is: reflexive > indirect object > direct object > ne/ci. Here gli+ne form gliene, which must come before porto, and the strong pronoun uno (one) follows the verb group.
Why is anche placed before a Maria, and what does it modify?
Anche means “also” or “too,” and in Italian it sits immediately next to the element it modifies. In e gliene porto uno anche a Maria, anche modifies a Maria, so the phrase means “and I’ll bring one to Maria, too.”