Breakdown of Il gatto dorme su un letto comodo.
un
a / an (masculine)
il gatto
the cat
comodo
comfortable
dormire
to sleep
il letto
the bed
su
on, about
Questions & Answers about Il gatto dorme su un letto comodo.
Why is su standing alone here instead of combining into a single word like sul?
Because the word after it is un, which is an indefinite article (a/an). In Italian, prepositions only combine with definite articles (words for "the", like il or la). If the sentence were "on the bed," it would become sul letto (su + il). Since it is "on a bed," su and un stay as two separate words.
Does the preposition su always mean "on"?
Usually, yes! Su translates to "on" or "onto" in most cases, especially when talking about physical location like resting on a bed. You will also see it used to mean "about" when talking about the topic of a conversation, a book, or a movie.
Why does the adjective comodo come after letto instead of before it?
In Italian, most descriptive adjectives go after the noun they describe. So, instead of saying "a comfortable bed" like we do in English, you say "a bed comfortable" (un letto comodo).
Why does the verb dorme end in an -e?
Dorme comes from the infinitive verb dormire (to sleep). For regular verbs ending in -ire, the "he/she/it" form always ends in -e. Since "the cat" acts as a "he/she/it", we conjugate it as dorme.
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