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La signora ha lasciato le chiavi nella borsetta.

La signora ha lasciato le chiavi nella borsetta.
The lady left the keys in the small bag.
From Lesson 83:Noun suffixes (-ino, -one)·Italian

Questions & Answers about La signora ha lasciato le chiavi nella borsetta.

How does the word borsetta mean 'small bag'?
It uses the diminutive suffix -etta. The base word is borsa (bag). By dropping the final -a and adding -etta, it becomes a 'small bag' or 'handbag'.
Why do we use nella here instead of in la?
In Italian, the preposition in (in) and definite articles like la (the) must combine into a single word. In + la always becomes nella. Since borsetta is feminine singular, it takes the article la.
Why does chiavi end in -i if it uses the feminine plural article le?
The singular word for key is la chiave. In Italian, nouns that end in -e in the singular always change their ending to -i in the plural, even if they are feminine. So la chiave becomes le chiavi.
Why does this sentence use ha for the past tense of lasciare instead of è?
The verb lasciare means to leave something behind, which is a direct action done to an object (the keys). Because it has a direct object, it uses avere (here as ha) for its past tense helper verb, rather than essere.

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