Metto il righello nel mio astuccio prima di studiare.

I put the ruler in my pencil case before studying.

Breakdown of Metto il righello nel mio astuccio prima di studiare.

• io: I
• mettere: to put
• di: of
• mio: my

Questions & Answers about Metto il righello nel mio astuccio prima di studiare.

What does metto mean in this sentence?

Metto is the first person singular present of mettere, so it means I put or I place.

Why does the sentence use il before righello and not un?

Using il (the definite article) indicates a specific ruler. If you said un righello, it would mean a ruler, not the ruler that you and your listener know about.

Do I always need an article before righello here? Could I say “metto righello”?

No. In Italian, you normally need an article or another determiner before a singular count noun. So you’d say il righello (the ruler) or un righello (a ruler), but not righello on its own.

Why is there nel mio astuccio, and how is that formed?

Possessives like mio generally require an article, so il mio astuccio means my pencil case. The preposition in + il mio contracts to nel mio, giving nel mio astuccio.

Why is there no apostrophe before mio in nel mio astuccio?