Learn Italian: Sono stufo di sparecchiare dopo cena. - I am sick of clearing the table after dinner.

Sono stufo di sparecchiare dopo cena.

I am sick of clearing the table after dinner.

Breakdown of Sono stufo di sparecchiare dopo cena.

to (linking a verb to a following infinitive)

dopo

after

Questions & Answers about Sono stufo di sparecchiare dopo cena.

Why do we use di before sparecchiare?

The adjective stufo (tired/sick) requires the preposition di when it is followed by an action (an infinitive verb). This is a set grammatical pattern for this specific adjective: essere stufo di + [infinitive].

Would this sentence change if the speaker were a woman?

Yes. Because stufo is an adjective describing the speaker, it must agree with their gender. A female speaker would say Sono stufa di sparecchiare. If a group were speaking, it would be Siamo stufi (or stufe for an all-female group).

The verb sparecchiare means to clear the table. How do you say "to set the table"?

To set the table is apparecchiare. In Italian, adding an s- to the beginning of a word often creates its exact opposite, very much like the English prefixes "un-" or "dis-".

Why is there no article before cena? Shouldn't it be dopo la cena?

While dopo la cena is grammatically possible, Italians usually drop the definite article for daily meals when they follow prepositions like dopo (after) or prima di (before). Phrases like dopo cena or prima di pranzo act as fixed everyday expressions.