Breakdown of Ho tre paia di guanti nuovi.
nuovo
new
avere
to have
di
of, from
tre
three
il guanto
the glove
il paio
the pair
Questions & Answers about Ho tre paia di guanti nuovi.
Why is the word for pairs paia instead of pai?
Paia is one of Italian's special irregular plurals! The singular word is il paio (the pair), which is masculine. But in the plural, it changes to feminine and takes an -a ending to become le paia. You will see this same tricky pattern with a few other words in this lesson, like il centinaio (the hundred) becoming le centinaia.
Since paia is a feminine plural, why is the adjective nuovi masculine?
Why do we use just di here, rather than a combined word like dei?
When you use a quantity word like a pair, a kilo, or a glass, you connect it to the next noun with the simple preposition di (of). You do not add the word for "the", because you are just saying "pairs of gloves", not "pairs of the gloves".
I always forget: why does nuovi come after guanti?
This is a great time for a quick refresher! In Italian, descriptive adjectives like colors, shapes, and conditions (like nuovi) almost always go after the noun they describe.
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