Breakdown of Metto le chiavi sulla scrivania.
la chiave
the key
mettere
to put / to put on / play (music)
su
on, about
la scrivania
the desk
Questions & Answers about Metto le chiavi sulla scrivania.
Why is it sulla and not just su la?
In Italian, when the preposition su (on) is followed by a definite article like la (the), they must combine into a single word called an articulated preposition. Since scrivania (desk) is feminine singular, it takes the article la, so su + la becomes sulla.
Why is the article le used for chiavi? Doesn't the -i ending mean it is masculine plural?
Where is the word for 'I' in this sentence?
In Italian, the subject pronoun io (I) is usually dropped because the verb ending already tells us who is doing the action. The -o ending in metto makes it clear that 'I' am the one putting the keys on the desk.
If I put the keys on a table instead, would it be sulla tavolo?