Learn Italian: Il tabaccaio è aperto, ma la macelleria è chiusa. - The tobacconist is open, but the butcher shop is closed.

Il tabaccaio è aperto, ma la macelleria è chiusa.

The tobacconist is open, but the butcher shop is closed.

Breakdown of Il tabaccaio è aperto, ma la macelleria è chiusa.

Questions & Answers about Il tabaccaio è aperto, ma la macelleria è chiusa.

Why does aperto end in -o but chiusa ends in -a?

These words describe the state of the shops, so they act as adjectives and must match the gender of the nouns. Il tabaccaio is masculine, so it takes the masculine ending in aperto. La macelleria is feminine, so it takes the feminine ending in chiusa.

Does tabaccaio mean the shop or the person?

It technically means the tobacconist (the person), but Italians frequently use it to refer to the shop itself. You might also see the word la tabaccheria used for the actual shop, which would be feminine.

I notice macelleria ends in -eria. Is this a common pattern for Italian stores?

Yes! The suffix -eria is very often used to name shops in Italian. For example, a macellaio is the butcher, while the macelleria is the butcher shop. You will also see this pattern in words like gelateria, pizzeria, and pasticceria.

If I wanted to add 'but I am going there anyway' to the end of this sentence, how would I use the pronoun ci?