Learn Italian: Hanno superato il sedicesimo ostacolo facilmente. - They overcame the sixteenth obstacle easily.

Hanno superato il sedicesimo ostacolo facilmente.

They overcame the sixteenth obstacle easily.

Breakdown of Hanno superato il sedicesimo ostacolo facilmente.

Questions & Answers about Hanno superato il sedicesimo ostacolo facilmente.

Ostacolo starts with a vowel. Why does this sentence use the article il instead of l'?

In Italian, the article always agrees with the word immediately following it. While you would normally say l'ostacolo, placing the ordinal number first changes things. Since sedicesimo starts with a simple consonant sound, you must use il, resulting in il sedicesimo ostacolo.

How is sedicesimo formed from the number 16 (sedici)?

For numbers 11 and up, you form the ordinal by dropping the final vowel of the regular (cardinal) number and adding the suffix -esimo. Here, sedici drops its final -i and adds -esimo to become sedicesimo.

Could I put sedicesimo after the noun, like l'ostacolo sedicesimo?

No. Unlike most descriptive adjectives in Italian, which usually follow the noun, ordinal numbers like sedicesimo almost always come before the noun they describe.

Facile means "easy". Why is the adverb "easily" facilmente and not "facilemente"?