Breakdown of Lavoro al quinto piano.
lavorare
to work
al
to the / at the
il piano
the floor (of a building)
quinto
fifth
Questions & Answers about Lavoro al quinto piano.
Why is the ordinal number quinto placed before the noun?
In Italian, ordinal numbers like quinto (fifth) usually come before the noun they describe, just like in English. This is a helpful exception to remember, because most regular descriptive adjectives in Italian go after the noun.
Why does quinto end in -o?
Ordinal numbers act like adjectives, so their endings must change to match the gender and number of the noun they belong to. Because piano (floor) is a masculine singular noun, quinto uses the masculine singular ending -o.
Why does this sentence use al instead of a word for 'on'?
In English, we say we work 'on' a floor, but Italian uses the preposition a (at/to) for the floors of a building. Here, a combines with the masculine word for 'the' (il) to become the combined word al.
Doesn't piano mean 'slowly' or refer to the musical instrument?
Yes, piano is a very common word with multiple meanings! Depending on the context, it can mean 'softly' or 'slowly', a 'plan', the musical instrument (short for pianoforte), or, as in this sentence, a 'floor' or 'level' of a building.
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