Learn Italian: Tutti i passeggeri hanno i salvagenti. - All the passengers have life jackets.

Tutti i passeggeri hanno i salvagenti.

All the passengers have life jackets.

Breakdown of Tutti i passeggeri hanno i salvagenti.

Questions & Answers about Tutti i passeggeri hanno i salvagenti.

How is the compound noun salvagente formed, and why is its plural salvagenti?

Salvagente is made of a verb (salva, from salvare, to save) and a noun (gente, people). When a compound is formed by a verb and a feminine singular noun, the new word is usually masculine (il salvagente), and its plural is formed by changing the final -e to -i (i salvagenti).

Does salvagente literally translate to "saves people"?

Exactly! It combines the third-person singular of the verb salvare (he/she/it saves) and the noun gente (people) to create the word for a life jacket or life preserver.

I learned that gente is a singular collective noun. Is the -i in salvagenti making the word for "people" plural?

Not really. While gente (people) is indeed singular, when it becomes part of the masculine compound noun il salvagente, the whole word follows the regular rule for making masculine nouns plural: the final -e changes to -i. You are pluralizing the life jackets themselves, not the people!

Why do we need the article i in tutti i passeggeri? In English we just say "all passengers".