Breakdown of Hai comprato una macchinaccia vecchia.
una
a / an (feminine)
la macchina
the car
vecchio
old
avere
to have
comprare
to buy
Questions & Answers about Hai comprato una macchinaccia vecchia.
How does the ending -accia change the meaning of macchina here?
The suffix -accia is a pejorative (derogatory) ending. When added to macchina (car), it turns it into macchinaccia, which means a bad, ugly, or low-quality car. It gives the feeling that the car is a piece of junk or a clunker.
Why does the suffix end in -a (-accia) and not -o (-accio)?
Noun suffixes must match the gender and number of the original noun. Since macchina is a feminine singular noun, it takes the feminine singular pejorative suffix -accia. If the base noun were masculine, like libro (book), you would use the masculine suffix -accio to make libraccio (a bad book).
What happens to the final vowel of macchina when we add this suffix?
Why use macchinaccia instead of just saying una brutta macchina?
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