L’ananas in frigo è per la merenda.

to be

Breakdown of L’ananas in frigo è per la merenda.

• in: in
• per: for
• la merenda: the snack

Questions & Answers about L’ananas in frigo è per la merenda.

Why is it l’ananas and not il ananas?

Because ananas begins with a vowel, and the singular definite article becomes l’ before a vowel. Also, ananas is normally treated as masculine in Italian, so the standard form is l’ananas.

You would also say:

• un ananas
• l’ananas

Not il ananas, because il does not stay unchanged before a vowel.

Is ananas singular or plural here?

It is singular here.

You can tell from:

• the article l’
• the verb è, which means is and is singular

A useful thing to know is that ananas is usually invariable, so the noun often looks the same in the singular and plural:

• singular: l’ananas
• plural: gli ananas

So the article and verb help you understand the number.

Why does it say in frigo instead of nel frigo?

In frigo is a very common everyday Italian expression meaning in the fridge. Italian often uses this shorter pattern without the article in fixed, familiar expressions like this.

You can also hear:

• nel frigo
• nel frigorifero
• in frigorifero

But in frigo is very natural and common in spoken Italian.