La porta di vetro è rotta.

Breakdown of La porta di vetro è rotta.

essere
to be
la porta
door
rotto
broken
di
of, from
il vetro
glass

Questions & Answers about La porta di vetro è rotta.

Why do we need the word di here?
In English, we can put two nouns together and say "glass door." In Italian, you cannot. To say what something is made of, you use the preposition di (of). So, you literally say "the door of glass" (la porta di vetro).
Why is it just di vetro and not combined with an article, like del vetro?
When you use di to describe the material an object is made of, you just use the noun for the material on its own, without adding "the" (the definite article).
Why does rotta end in -a instead of -o like vetro?
Rotta (broken) is an adjective describing the door (la porta), which is feminine singular. It doesn't describe the glass (vetro). Adjectives always change their endings to match the main noun they describe, jumping right over descriptive phrases like di vetro.
What is the base verb for rotta?
It comes from the verb rompere (to break). The past participle is rotto (broken), which is irregular. Here it is used as an adjective, which is why its ending changes to match la porta.

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