Word
Marco chiede perché l'età e l'aspetto sono un problema.
Meaning
Marco asks why age and appearance are a problem.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Marco chiede perché l'età e l'aspetto sono un problema.
essere
to be
un
a / an (masculine)
e
and
il problema
problem
Questions & Answers about Marco chiede perché l'età e l'aspetto sono un problema.
The 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. Because the original direct question was a 'why' question, we just keep the question word perché to link the two parts of the sentence. If Marco had asked a Yes/No question, we would say Marco chiede se... (Marco asks if...).
The reporting verb is chiede. Why is sono in the normal present tense instead of the subjunctive?
When reporting an indirect question with a present-tense verb like chiede, it is very common and completely correct to use the normal indicative mood (sono) in everyday Italian. You might see the subjunctive used in highly formal writing or if the reporting verb was in the past tense, but it is not required here.
Why does the sentence use the singular un problema when the subject (l'età e l'aspetto) is plural?
Even though the subject is plural (two things: age and appearance), they are being grouped together as a single issue. Just like in English ('they are a problem'), Italian uses the singular noun un problema to describe this collective concept.
Why are there articles before età and aspetto when the English translation just says 'age and appearance'?