Learn Italian: Hanno pagato la bolletta della luce, ma non il gas. - They paid the electricity bill, but not the gas.

Hanno pagato la bolletta della luce, ma non il gas.

They paid the electricity bill, but not the gas.

Breakdown of Hanno pagato la bolletta della luce, ma non il gas.

Questions & Answers about Hanno pagato la bolletta della luce, ma non il gas.

Why does della luce translate to 'electricity'?

Literally meaning 'of the light,' la luce is the everyday Italian way to refer to electricity in the home. Therefore, la bolletta della luce is the standard way to say 'the electricity bill.'

Why do we use della here instead of just di?

Della is an articulated preposition, meaning it combines the preposition di (of) and the definite article la (the). Because luce is a feminine noun, it uses la, and Italian rules require you to mash di and la together into della.

Why does the sentence just say il gas at the end instead of repeating 'the bill'?

To sound natural and avoid repeating la bolletta (the bill), the sentence simply uses il gas. In everyday Italian, it is very common to directly 'pay the utility' rather than the bill, such as pagare il gas (to pay for the gas) or pagare la luce (to pay for the electricity).

Why does hanno pagato translate to 'they paid' instead of 'they have paid'?

Hanno pagato is the passato prossimo tense, which literally translates as 'they have paid.' However, Italian uses this tense for almost all completed past actions, so it most frequently translates into English as the simple past tense 'they paid.'