Learn Italian: Il funzionario ispeziona le valigie mentre aspettiamo. - The official inspects the suitcases while we wait.

Il funzionario ispeziona le valigie mentre aspettiamo.

The official inspects the suitcases while we wait.

Breakdown of Il funzionario ispeziona le valigie mentre aspettiamo.

aspettare

to wait / to wait for

the official / the civil servant

Questions & Answers about Il funzionario ispeziona le valigie mentre aspettiamo.

How would you rewrite the first part of this sentence to say "The suitcases must be inspected" using the passive voice from this lesson?

You would use the passive of necessity by combining the verb andare with the past participle. Since le valigie is feminine plural, it becomes Le valigie vanno ispezionate. This means exactly the same as Le valigie devono essere ispezionate.

Why is the plural of valigia spelled valigie with an "i"?

Nouns ending in -cia and -gia keep the i in the plural if that ending is preceded by a vowel (like the i just before the g in valigia). If the ending is preceded by a consonant, like in spiaggia (beach) or mancia (tip), they lose the i in the plural to become spiagge and mance.

Could I say mentre stiamo aspettando instead of mentre aspettiamo?

Yes! In Italian, the simple present (aspettiamo) is frequently used for ongoing actions where English would use the continuous tense ("are waiting"). Using the continuous form stiamo aspettando is also perfectly correct here, but the simple present is very natural and common after mentre (while).

What exactly is a funzionario?

A funzionario is an official, civil servant, or a high-ranking clerk in an institution (like customs, a ministry, or a bank). It refers to someone carrying out official duties, rather than just any general employee or worker.