Breakdown of Ho tredici libri italiani e quattordici libri inglesi.
e
and
il libro
book
italiano
Italian
inglese
English
Questions & Answers about Ho tredici libri italiani e quattordici libri inglesi.
Why do both tredici (13) and quattordici (14) end in -dici?
In Italian, the numbers 11 through 16 all end in -dici (which means "ten"). It works a bit like the English "-teen", but notice the pattern: for 11 through 16, -dici is at the end of the word (undici, dodici, tredici, etc.), but for 17 through 19, it jumps to the beginning (diciassette, diciotto, diciannove).
Why does the sentence say libri italiani instead of italiani libri?
In Italian, most adjectives—and especially adjectives of nationality like italiani (Italian) and inglesi (English)—are placed after the noun they describe. So, "Italian books" literally translates to "books Italian".
Why do the adjectives italiani and inglesi both end in -i here?
They are both matching the masculine plural noun libri (books). The singular form italiano changes its -o to an -i for masculine plural. The singular form inglese belongs to a group of adjectives that end in -e. These adjectives always change their -e to an -i in the plural, regardless of whether the noun is masculine or feminine.
Where is the word for "I" in this sentence?