Breakdown of È solo un malinteso, dobbiamo chiarire la situazione.
essere
to be
un
a / an (masculine)
dovere
must
la situazione
the situation
solo
only
il malinteso
misunderstanding
chiarire
to clarify
Questions & Answers about È solo un malinteso, dobbiamo chiarire la situazione.
Since this lesson focuses on emphatic negation, how could we use mica here to say 'It's NOT AT ALL a misunderstanding'?
How is the word malinteso formed?
It is a combination of male (badly) and inteso (understood, which is the past participle of intendere). Literally, it means a 'badly understood' thing, making it the perfect word for 'misunderstanding'.
Why is it la situazione? Doesn't the -e ending mean it could be masculine?
Do I need a preposition like a or di between dobbiamo and chiarire?
No, you do not. Dobbiamo is a form of the modal verb dovere (must/to have to). Modal verbs connect directly to the dictionary form (infinitive) of the next verb, which in this case is chiarire, without needing any prepositions in between.
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