Oggi faccio un’ora di straordinario, ma domani esco presto.

Today I’m doing an hour of overtime, but tomorrow I’m leaving early.

Breakdown of Oggi faccio un’ora di straordinario, ma domani esco presto.

• io: I
• di: of
• oggi: today
• ma: but

Questions & Answers about Oggi faccio un’ora di straordinario, ma domani esco presto.

Why does Italian use faccio here? It literally looks like I do, not I work.

In Italian, fare straordinario is the normal way to say to do/work overtime.

So:

• faccio straordinario = I’m doing overtime / I work overtime
• faccio un’ora di straordinario = I’m doing an hour of overtime

This is one of those expressions where Italian uses fare in a way English does not. A literal word-for-word translation sounds odd in English, but it is completely natural in Italian.

Why is it un’ora di straordinario?

This follows a very common Italian pattern:

• un’ora di lavoro = an hour of work
• due chili di pane = two kilos of bread
• un bicchiere d’acqua = a glass of water

So un’ora di straordinario literally means an hour of overtime.

The di connects the quantity/time expression (un’ora) to the thing being measured (straordinario).

Why is it written un’ora with an apostrophe?