Learn Italian: L'esame è difficile, passano difficilmente. - The exam is difficult, they hardly pass.

L'esame è difficile, passano difficilmente.

The exam is difficult, they hardly pass.

Breakdown of L'esame è difficile, passano difficilmente.

Questions & Answers about L'esame è difficile, passano difficilmente.

How is the adverb difficilmente formed from the adjective difficile?

To form an adverb from an adjective that ends in -e, you usually just add -mente. However, when an adjective ends in -le or -re (like difficile), it drops the final -e before adding the suffix. So, difficile becomes difficilmente rather than "difficilemente".

Does difficilmente literally mean "difficultly"?

It translates literally to "with difficulty", but it is commonly used to mean "hardly", "barely", or that something is unlikely. In this sentence, passano difficilmente means they have a hard time passing or they hardly pass.

Why is the adverb placed after the verb in passano difficilmente?

In Italian, adverbs of manner (words that describe how an action is done, often ending in -mente) usually go immediately after the verb they modify. This is different from English, where we often put words like "hardly" before the verb.

Who is the subject of passano?

The -ano ending on the verb passare tells us it is in the "they" (loro) form. The subject is implied to be the people taking the exam. Italian frequently drops the subject pronoun (like loro) because the verb ending already makes it clear who is doing the action.