Breakdown of Porto un pasticcino alla collega per ringraziarla.
io
I
per
for
portare
to bring
ringraziare
to thank
la
her
alla
to the
il pasticcino
the pastry
la collega
the colleague
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Questions & Answers about Porto un pasticcino alla collega per ringraziarla.
What does porto mean, and what verb tense/person is it?
Porto is the first-person singular present indicative of portare (to bring). It literally means “I bring” or “I’m bringing.”
Why is it un pasticcino, and what does pasticcino mean?
Pasticcino is the diminutive of pasticcio/pasticceria, so it means “little pastry” or “small cake.” The article un makes it indefinite: “a little pastry.”
Why do we say alla collega instead of a la collega?
In Italian a + la contracts to alla before a feminine singular noun. Here collega is feminine, so a + la collega → alla collega.
Is collega always feminine, since it ends in -a?
No. Collega is a common-gender noun (the same form for both sexes). The gender is shown by the article:
- il collega → a male colleague
- la collega → a female colleague
How would this change if the colleague were male?
You’d use al collega (a + il = al) for a male colleague: “Porto un pasticcino al collega per ringraziarlo.”
What is the function of per in per ringraziarla?
Per + infinitive expresses purpose: “in order to …”. So per ringraziarla means “to thank her” or “in order to thank her.”
Why is the pronoun -la attached to ringraziare rather than placed before it?
With Italian infinitives, object pronouns attach as enclitics. Thus ringraziare + la → ringraziarla (to thank her).
What does the pronoun la refer to in ringraziarla?
It refers back to la collega (the female colleague), serving as the direct-object pronoun “her.”
Could I rephrase per ringraziarla to put the pronoun before the verb?
Yes, but only if you change the verb form. For example:
- Infinitive form (enclitic): per ringraziarla
- Finite verb (proclitic): … perché la ringrazio (“… because I thank her”)