Breakdown of Perché il caffè senza zucchero è amaro e difficile da bere?
essere
to be
e
and
difficile
difficult
perché
because, why
Questions & Answers about Perché il caffè senza zucchero è amaro e difficile da bere?
Why do we use da in difficile da bere instead of a or di?
When an adjective like difficile (hard), facile (easy), or impossibile (impossible) is followed by an infinitive verb, Italian connects them with the preposition da. A helpful way to understand this is to think of it as having a passive meaning: the coffee is difficult to be drunk. The preposition da shows that the noun before it (il caffè) is receiving the action.
If we changed il caffè to a plural noun like le bevande (the drinks), would difficile da bere change?
Yes, the adjectives must still agree with the noun they describe. It would become le bevande... sono amare e difficili da bere. Notice that difficile changes to its plural form difficili, but the infinitive phrase da bere stays exactly the same.
Why does the sentence use il caffè when the English translation just says "coffee"?
Why is there no article after senza? Shouldn't it be ?