Learn Italian: Siediti sul divano e riposa.

Siediti sul divano e riposa.

Sit on the sofa and rest.

Breakdown of Siediti sul divano e riposa.

Questions & Answers about Siediti sul divano e riposa.

Why does it say siediti instead of just siedi?

The verb for "to sit" in Italian is usually reflexive: sedersi (literally "to sit oneself"). When you tell someone to sit, you include the reflexive pronoun ti (yourself) because you are essentially telling them to seat themselves.

Why is the ti attached to the very end of siediti?

When you give a direct, informal command (the imperative mood), object and reflexive pronouns attach directly to the end of the verb. The command form for "you" is siedi, and adding the pronoun makes it the single word siediti.

If I am talking to "you", why does riposa end in -a instead of -i?

In the normal present tense, "you rest" is indeed riposi. However, when giving a command, Italian verbs that end in -are (like riposare) use an -a ending for the informal "you".

Why use sul instead of just su?

In Italian, prepositions like su (on) almost always combine with the word for "the" when they are right next to each other. Sul is the merged combination of su and il (the masculine singular "the" used for divano).