Learn Italian: Il pasticciere prepara dolci perfetti. - The pastry chef prepares perfect desserts.

Il pasticciere prepara dolci perfetti.

The pastry chef prepares perfect desserts.

Breakdown of Il pasticciere prepara dolci perfetti.

Questions & Answers about Il pasticciere prepara dolci perfetti.

Since we are learning the causative with fare, how would I use it here to say "I make the pastry chef prepare perfect desserts"?

You would say: Faccio preparare dolci perfetti al pasticciere. Because the verb preparare has a direct object here (dolci perfetti), the person actually doing the preparing (the pastry chef) is treated as an indirect object. That is why we introduce the chef with a (which combines with il to become al).

Why is there an 'i' after the 'c' in pasticciere if the 'c' already makes a soft sound?

The standard suffix for this type of profession is -iere (like in infermiere or cameriere). Even though the 'i' is silent because the 'c' already makes a soft "ch" sound before it, traditional spelling keeps the 'i' to preserve the complete suffix. Note that you will also see it spelled pasticcere—both are widely accepted today.

Dolci usually means "sweet" (as an adjective). Is it the normal word for "dessert"?

Yes! When used as a masculine plural noun, i dolci is the most common and natural way to refer to "sweets," "pastries," or "desserts" in Italian. While Italians do occasionally use the French loanword il dessert, i dolci is the standard everyday term.