Breakdown of Dovete mettere la maschera, ossia quella per l'ossigeno.
quello
that
mettere
to put / to put on / play (music)
per
for / in order to / because of
dovere
must
la maschera
the mask
ossia
that is to say / or rather
l'ossigeno
the oxygen (m)
Questions & Answers about Dovete mettere la maschera, ossia quella per l'ossigeno.
What exactly does ossia mean here, and could I use cioè instead?
Ossia is an explanatory marker meaning that is to say or in other words. It is used to clarify or specify what was just said, which in this case is specifying which mask to put on. Yes, you can absolutely use cioè here! Ossia and cioè are often interchangeable, though ossia sounds a tiny bit more formal or precise, while cioè is extremely common in everyday speech.
Why do we use quella here to mean the one?
In English, we often say the one to avoid repeating a noun. Italian uses a demonstrative pronoun to do this job. Here, quella (that) is feminine and singular to agree with la maschera. Literally, the phrase translates to that for the oxygen.
Why use the preposition per in per l'ossigeno instead of di?
When describing what an object is used for, Italian frequently uses the preposition per (for) to show its purpose. The preposition di (of) is more commonly used to show what an object is made of. Since the mask is used for delivering oxygen, rather than being made out of oxygen, we use per.
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