Breakdown of Questa felpa è tua, ma lei se la tiene.
essere
to be
lei
she
questo
this (masculine)
ma
but
tuo
your
tenere
to keep / to hold
la felpa
sweatshirt
se lo
it for himself/herself/themselves (se la, se li, se le)
Questions & Answers about Questa felpa è tua, ma lei se la tiene.
Why does the sentence use se la instead of si la?
When the third-person reflexive pronoun si (meaning "to herself" or "for herself" here) is followed by a direct object pronoun like la, its i changes to an e. Therefore, si + la always becomes se la.
What exactly do the pronouns se and la stand for in se la tiene?
la is the direct object "it", replacing the feminine singular noun felpa (sweatshirt). se is the reflexive pronoun referring back to the subject lei (she), giving the meaning "for herself".
Why is there no article before tua? Shouldn't it be la tua?
When a possessive pronoun directly follows the verb essere (to be) simply to state who owns something, the definite article is usually dropped. Saying Questa felpa è la tua is technically correct, but è tua is much more common and natural in everyday Italian.
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