Breakdown of Lo skipass di Marco costa cinquanta euro, e quello di Anna sessanta.
Questions & Answers about Lo skipass di Marco costa cinquanta euro, e quello di Anna sessanta.
Why do we use quello di Anna to say "Anna's"?
Italian doesn't have an equivalent to the English apostrophe-s ('s) for possession. To avoid repeating the noun (which would be lo skipass di Anna), we use the pronoun quello (that one) plus di (of). So, quello di Anna literally translates to "that of Anna" or "the one of Anna". Why is it quello and not quella?
The pronoun must match the gender and number of the noun it replaces. Because it replaces lo skipass, which is a masculine singular noun, we use the masculine singular quello. If we were talking about a feminine noun like la giacca (the jacket), we would say quella di Anna. Why is the article lo used with an English word like skipass?
Italian article rules still apply to foreign loanwords! Because skipass starts with an "s" followed by a consonant (the "k"), it takes the article lo, exactly like lo studente or lo sport. Most foreign words adopted into Italian are also masculine by default. Why isn't the verb repeated in the second half of the sentence?
Just like in English, you can drop the verb to avoid sounding repetitive. Instead of saying e quello di Anna costa sessanta, you can safely leave out costa because it is already clearly understood from the first half of the sentence. Learn Lo skipass di Marco costa cinquanta euro, e quello di Anna sessanta and more in Italian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free