Breakdown of La minoranza che vuole studiare è piccolissima.
essere
to be
piccolo
small
studiare
to study
volere
to want
che
who, that (relative pronoun)
la minoranza
the minority
Questions & Answers about La minoranza che vuole studiare è piccolissima.
In English, we might say "the minority want to study". Why is it vuole (singular) here instead of vogliono (plural)?
In Italian, collective nouns that represent a group of people—like la minoranza (the minority), la gente (the people), or la famiglia (the family)—strictly take singular verbs. Since the noun itself is grammatically singular, the verb must be the singular vuole, even though it refers to multiple people.
Does the adjective piccolissima also have to agree with the collective noun?
Yes! Just like the verb, any adjectives describing a collective noun must match its exact grammatical gender and number. Since minoranza is feminine and singular, the base adjective piccolo takes the feminine singular absolute superlative ending to become piccolissima (very small).
Since we're talking about people, could I say La minoranza chi vuole... instead of using che?
No, you must use che. When you need a relative pronoun to refer directly back to a noun you just mentioned (like la minoranza), you use che for both people and things. Chi is only used when there is no preceding noun, meaning "the person who" or "those who" (e.g., Chi vuole studiare, studia - Those who want to study, study).
Why is there no preposition like a or di between vuole and studiare?
Volere (to want) is a modal (or "helper") verb, just like potere (can/to be able to) and dovere (must/to have to). In Italian, modal verbs connect directly to the following infinitive verb without needing a linking preposition.
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