Breakdown of Il pannolino è pulito; lo sto mettendo nella culla, finalmente.
essere
to be
pulito
clean
mettere
to put / to put on / play (music)
stare
to stay, to feel, to be
Questions & Answers about Il pannolino è pulito; lo sto mettendo nella culla, finalmente.
Could I attach lo to the end of the gerund instead of putting it before sto?
Since pannolino is masculine, does the lo in lo sto mettendo refer to the diaper?
Grammatically it could, but the English translation and context tell us lo refers to the baby. You wouldn't typically announce putting a clean diaper into a crib! This is a great example of how conversational Italian relies on context to figure out what a pronoun refers to when the noun isn't explicitly in the sentence.
How is the gerund mettendo formed from the verb mettere?
For regular -ere and -ire verbs, you drop the infinitive ending and add -endo to the stem. When combined with the present tense of stare, it forms the progressive tense to describe an action happening right now. Just remember as a refresher that -are verbs take -ando instead.
Can I move the adverb finalmente to a different part of the sentence?