Breakdown of Gli orologi sono vecchi e rotti.
Questions & Answers about Gli orologi sono vecchi e rotti.
Why use gli instead of i for "the"?
Gli is the masculine plural word for "the" used before nouns that start with a vowel (like the "o" in orologi). It is also used for words starting with a "z" or an "s" followed by a consonant. If the word started with a normal consonant, you would just use i. The singular is orologio. Why isn't the plural spelled orologii?
When a masculine word ends in an unstressed -io (like orologio), you don't add a second -i to make it plural. You simply drop the final -o, which leaves you with a single -i (orologi). Why do the words for old (vecchi) and broken (rotti) end in -i?
In Italian, adjectives have to match the noun they are describing. Since orologi is a masculine plural noun, the adjectives vecchio (old) and rotto (broken) must change their final -o to an -i to become masculine and plural. Does orologi mean both "watches" and "clocks"?
Yes! Italian uses the same base word, orologio, for almost any timepiece. Depending on the context of your conversation, gli orologi can mean "the watches" or "the clocks". Learn Gli orologi sono vecchi e rotti and more in Italian
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