Learn Italian: Glielo dico sempre: barare in un gioco competitivo è pessimo. - I always tell him that: cheating in a competitive game is terrible.

Glielo dico sempre: barare in un gioco competitivo è pessimo.

I always tell him that: cheating in a competitive game is terrible.

Breakdown of Glielo dico sempre: barare in un gioco competitivo è pessimo.

essere

to be

a / an (masculine)

in / made of (material)

sempre

always

Questions & Answers about Glielo dico sempre: barare in un gioco competitivo è pessimo.

Why does this sentence use pessimo instead of peggio?

Peggio is an adverb meaning worse, used to describe verbs. Pessimo is an adjective meaning very bad or terrible (the absolute superlative of cattivo). Because we are describing the noun phrase cheating in a game, we need an adjective, not an adverb.

How does the word glielo break down here?

Glielo is a double object pronoun combining gli (to him) and lo (it). When gli combines with direct object pronouns, it adds an e to become glie-, forming a single word. Here, it translates to it to him in the phrase I always tell him that.

Does glielo refer to a male or a female here?

Based on the translation I tell him, it refers to a male (gli). However, as a quick refresher, the combined pronoun glielo is used for both to him AND to her, because the female pronoun le also changes to glie- when combined. You rely on context to know who is being spoken to.

The English translation says cheating, but the Italian sentence uses the infinitive barare. Why not use a gerund?