Breakdown of Questo è un vaso raro da trovare.
essere
to be
un
a / an (masculine)
questo
this (masculine)
trovare
to find
il vaso
the vase
da
to (purpose/necessity after a noun)
raro
rare
Questions & Answers about Questo è un vaso raro da trovare.
Why is the preposition da used before trovare?
When linking an adjective like raro (rare), difficile (difficult), or facile (easy) to a verb in its infinitive form, Italian uses the preposition da. It connects the description to the action, functioning just like "to" in the English phrase "rare to find."
Could I say Questo vaso è raro da trovare instead?
Why does the adjective raro come after vaso?
In Italian, descriptive adjectives that categorize or give specific facts about a noun (like being rare, heavy, or red) almost always come immediately after the noun they describe.
How would this sentence look if we were talking about multiple rare vases?
You would change the first half to match the plural masculine noun: Questi sono vasi rari da trovare. Notice that da trovare doesn't change at all, because infinitive verbs and prepositions do not change for gender or number.
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