Breakdown of L'ispettore sospetta che l'impronta sia del vicino.
essere
to be
il vicino
the neighbor
del
of the; than the (di + il)
l'ispettore
the inspector (m)
che
that (conjunction introducing a clause)
sospettare
to suspect
l'impronta
the footprint (f)
Questions & Answers about L'ispettore sospetta che l'impronta sia del vicino.
Why do we use sia here instead of è?
Sia is the present subjunctive form of essere (to be). It is triggered by the main verb sospetta (suspects). In Italian, verbs expressing doubt, personal opinion, or belief followed by che (that) require the subjunctive mood in the following clause.
Since the singular subjunctive forms are often identical, how do we know sia refers to the footprint?
The present subjunctive forms of essere for io, tu, and lui/lei are all exactly the same: sia. In this sentence, the subject of the second clause is explicitly stated as l'impronta (the footprint), so there is no confusion. If the subject had been omitted and context wasn't enough, we might have needed to add a pronoun for clarity.
Why is "the neighbor's" translated as del vicino?
Italian doesn't use an apostrophe-'s' to show possession. Instead, it uses the structure 'the footprint of the neighbor'. Because 'the neighbor' is il vicino, the preposition di (of) combines with the article il to create the articulated preposition del.
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