Breakdown of Il telefono è rotto, puoi ripararlo per favore?
essere
to be
il telefono
the phone
rotto
broken
potere
can, to be able to
lo
him/it (direct object)
per favore
please (asking for something)
riparare
to repair
Questions & Answers about Il telefono è rotto, puoi ripararlo per favore?
Why is lo attached to the end of the word ripararlo?
Lo means "it" (referring to the masculine noun telefono). Because riparare (to repair) follows the modal verb puoi (you can), it stays in its infinitive dictionary form. In Italian, you can attach object pronouns directly to the end of an infinitive.
Can I put the lo before the verb instead?
Yes! When using a modal verb like potere (can) with an infinitive, you have two choices for where the pronoun goes. You can attach it to the end of the infinitive (puoi ripararlo) or place it before the conjugated modal verb (lo puoi riparare). Both are perfectly correct and mean the exact same thing.
What happened to the final "e" in riparare?
If I was talking about a broken television (la televisione), how would this sentence change?
Why is it rotto and not rompato?
Rotto is the irregular past participle of the verb rompere (to break). In this sentence, it is acting as an adjective to describe the current state of the phone, exactly like the word "broken" does in English.
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