Hai pagato la tua bolletta? Io ho già pagato la mia.
Did you pay your bill? I have already paid mine.
Breakdown of Hai pagato la tua bolletta? Io ho già pagato la mia.
io
I
avere
to have
mio
my
tuo
your
pagare
to pay
già
already
la bolletta
utility bill
Questions & Answers about Hai pagato la tua bolletta? Io ho già pagato la mia.
Why is it "la mia" and not just "mia" at the end?
In Italian, independent possessive pronouns (words like "mine", "yours", "hers" that stand in for a noun) almost always need a definite article like il or la. Since it refers back to the feminine noun bolletta, you use la mia to mean "mine".
How do we know to use the feminine "la mia" when the word "bolletta" isn't even in the second sentence?
Possessive pronouns must agree in gender and number with the noun they replace, even when that noun is left out. Because it replaces la bolletta (a feminine singular noun), "mine" must also be feminine singular: la mia.
Why did they include "Io" in the second sentence? Isn't "ho" enough to mean "I have"?
Yes, ho already tells us who the subject is. However, Italian often uses subject pronouns like io to show contrast or emphasis. Here, it contrasts what "you" did (did you pay yours?) with what "I" did (I already paid mine).
Why does the word "già" (already) go between "ho" and "pagato"?
In the passato prossimo past tense, short adverbs of time like già (already), ancora (yet), and sempre (always) are usually placed right between the helper verb (like ho) and the past participle (like pagato).
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