Learn Italian: Quello zaino è pesante, vero? - That backpack is heavy, right?

Quello zaino è pesante, vero?

That backpack is heavy, right?

Breakdown of Quello zaino è pesante, vero?

essere

to be

vero

true / right? (tag question)

Questions & Answers about Quello zaino è pesante, vero?

Why is it quello zaino and not quel zaino?

The word for "that" (quello) changes its shape based on the word that follows it, acting exactly like the word for "the". Because we say lo zaino (the backpack), the "that" form matches it and becomes quello zaino. If the noun used il, like il libro (the book), you would shorten it to quel libro.

When do I need to use these special lo and quello forms?

You use them before masculine singular nouns that start with a few specific sounds. The most common triggers are a "z" (like zaino), an "s" followed by another consonant (like studente or sport), "gn", and "ps".

Why does pesante end in "-e" if zaino is a masculine word?

While many adjectives end in "-o" for masculine and "-a" for feminine, Italian has a second group of adjectives that naturally end in "-e" in their singular form. For these words, the masculine and feminine forms are exactly the same. It is pesante for a masculine backpack, and also pesante for a feminine suitcase (la valigia).

How does vero work at the end of the sentence?

The word vero literally means "true". Adding vero? to the end of a statement is the standard Italian way to say "right?", "isn't it?", or "don't you?". It is a simple tag you can add to almost any sentence when you want someone to agree with you.