Learn Italian: La stampa scrive delle elezioni e tutti ne discutono. - The press writes about the elections and everyone discusses it.

La stampa scrive delle elezioni e tutti ne discutono.

The press writes about the elections and everyone discusses it.

Breakdown of La stampa scrive delle elezioni e tutti ne discutono.

Questions & Answers about La stampa scrive delle elezioni e tutti ne discutono.

Why do we use ne here instead of a direct object pronoun like le to mean "them" or "it"?

In English, you "discuss" something directly. But in Italian, the verb is discutere di (to discuss about). Because the topic being discussed requires the preposition di (referring back to delle elezioni), you must use the pronoun ne to replace the whole phrase.

Could we have used sulle elezioni instead of delle elezioni for "about the elections"?

Yes, scrivere su (to write on/about) is also correct. However, using di (delle is di + le) is very common for introducing the topic of an article or conversation. Notice how it matches perfectly with the second half of the sentence, which uses ne to mean "about them".

Why is the verb discutono plural when the English translation says "everyone discusses" (singular)?

In Italian, the pronoun tutti literally translates to "all" and is always grammatically plural. Therefore, it requires the plural verb discutono. English treats "everyone" or "everybody" as a singular subject, which can be a tricky difference to remember at first!

I know stampa is related to printing, but does it mean "the press" as in the news media?