Learn Italian: Dove sono gli orologi rotti? - Where are the broken watches?

Dove sono gli orologi rotti?

Where are the broken watches?

Breakdown of Dove sono gli orologi rotti?

Questions & Answers about Dove sono gli orologi rotti?

Why do we use gli instead of i for the watches?

Orologi is a masculine plural noun that starts with a vowel. In Italian, masculine plural words starting with a vowel take the article gli instead of the usual i. It is also used for masculine plurals starting with z, s+consonant, and a few other sounds.

The singular word is orologio. Why is the plural orologi instead of orologii with a double i?

When a masculine word ends in -io, like orologio, the plural form usually just drops the final o and ends in a single -i. The two i sounds merge together so it is easier to say.

Why does the word for broken end in an i (rotti)?

Adjectives must match the noun they describe. Because orologi is masculine and plural, the dictionary form of the adjective (rotto) changes its ending to -i to become rotti.

Why do we use sono instead of è here?

If you were looking for one watch, you would ask Dov'è (Where is). But since we are looking for multiple watches, we need to use the plural verb sono to make Dove sono, which means 'Where are'.