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Mancano alcune mele nella mia lista.

Mancano alcune mele nella mia lista.
Some apples are missing on my list.
From Lesson 80:Indefinite adjectives for some (qualche, alcuni)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Mancano alcune mele nella mia lista.

Why use alcune mele instead of qualche mele?
The word alcune means "some" and is used with plural feminine nouns, like mele. The word qualche also means "some", but it must always be followed by a singular noun. To mean "some apples", you can say alcune mele or qualche mela, but never qualche mele.
Why does the sentence start with mancano instead of the apples?
In Italian, it is very common to put the subject after the verb, especially with verbs like mancare (to be missing). The verb is in the plural form (mancano) because it agrees with the plural subject alcune mele. Literally, the sentence reads "Are missing some apples".
Why is it nella mia lista instead of just in mia lista?
With a few exceptions for close family members, possessive adjectives like mia require a definite article before them. Nella is a combined word made from the preposition in (in) plus the article la (the). So, nella mia lista literally means "in the my list".
Why does nella translate to "on" here instead of "in"?
Prepositions rarely translate perfectly word-for-word between languages. While English speakers say that an item is "on" a list, Italians say it is "in" a list.

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