Breakdown of Ho letto il testo sul sito.
avere
to have
leggere
to read
su
on, about
il testo
the text
il sito
the website
sul
on the; about the (su + il)
Questions & Answers about Ho letto il testo sul sito.
Why is it Ho letto instead of a regular ending like leggito?
Letto is the irregular past participle of the verb leggere (to read). While many Italian verbs follow a predictable pattern in the past tense, several high-frequency verbs have irregular forms that you simply have to memorize.
Wait, doesn't letto also mean 'bed'?
Yes, it does! Letto is both the noun for 'bed' and the past participle for 'read'. You can easily tell them apart by context. Because it comes right after the helping verb ho (I have) here, it has to be the verb.
Why does 'I read' translate to two words (Ho letto)?
In English, 'read' looks the same in both the present and the past tense. Because this sentence is about a completed past action, Italian uses the passato prossimo tense. This tense requires two parts: a helping verb (ho) and a past participle (letto). It literally means 'I have read'.
Where does the word sul come from?
Sul is a combined word made from the preposition su (on) and the definite article il (the). When su is followed by a definite article, they merge together. Since sito (site) takes the article il, they combine to form sul.
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