Breakdown of Marco, puoi portare la scatola pesante per me?
la scatola
the box
pesante
heavy
Marco
Marco
per
for / in order to / because of
Questions & Answers about Marco, puoi portare la scatola pesante per me?
Why is the verb portare in its full dictionary form (the infinitive) instead of matching Marco?
Because it comes right after puoi (can you), which is a modal verb. When you use a modal verb like potere (to be able to/can), the main verb that follows it tells us what the action is, and it always stays in its basic infinitive form. So it is puoi portare (can you carry), never puoi porti.
The word for box (scatola) is feminine, so why doesn't the word for heavy (pesante) end in -a?
While many Italian adjectives end in -o for masculine and -a for feminine, there is a whole group of adjectives that end in -e in their singular dictionary form. These -e adjectives are used for both masculine and feminine nouns. Since pesante is one of these, it stays exactly the same whether it describes a masculine or a feminine noun!
Why is it la scatola pesante instead of la pesante scatola?
I have seen portare used to mean 'to wear' or 'to bring'. Does it mean 'to carry' here?
Yes! Portare is a very versatile verb. Depending on the context, it can mean 'to bring', 'to carry', or even 'to wear' (like carrying clothes on your body). Because Marco is dealing with a heavy box, 'to carry' makes the most sense here.