ELONIO
Log inSign up

Non sappiamo perché quell'attore affascinante è ancora single.

Non sappiamo perché quell'attore affascinante è ancora single.
We do not know why that charming actor is still single.
From Lesson 212:Reported questions (se)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Non sappiamo perché quell'attore affascinante è ancora single.

This lesson is about indirect questions with se. Why isn't se used in this sentence?
We use se (if/whether) to report Yes/No questions, like 'We don't know IF he is single.' But since the original question here asks 'Why?' (perché), it is a Wh- question. For these, we just keep the question word (perché, dove, quando, etc.) to connect the sentences instead of using se.
Since the sentence starts with non sappiamo (we don't know), shouldn't the verb be in the subjunctive mood (sia) instead of the indicative (è)?
In strict formal grammar, indirect questions introduced by verbs of doubt or not knowing can take the subjunctive (sia). However, in everyday spoken Italian, it is extremely common and perfectly acceptable to use the indicative (è) for indirect questions.
Why is the word for 'that' written as quell' instead of quello?
The demonstrative adjective quello changes its ending based on the noun it precedes, using the exact same rules as the definite article ('the'). Because attore starts with a vowel, it would take the article l' (l'attore). Therefore, quello drops its final vowel and takes an apostrophe to become quell'.
Why doesn't the adjective affascinante end in an -o to match the masculine noun attore?
Affascinante is part of a group of Italian adjectives that end in -e in the singular. These adjectives don't change for gender, so it stays affascinante whether you are talking about a male actor or a female actress. (In the plural, both masculine and feminine forms would end in -i).
The word single is English! Would it change to a plural form if we were talking about multiple actors?
No, it stays exactly the same. When Italian borrows foreign words, they are almost always treated as invariable, meaning their spelling does not change to match plural nouns.

Learn Non sappiamo perché quell'attore affascinante è ancora single and more in Italian

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning Italian →