Learn Italian: Dato che l'autonomia è importante, ognuno ha le proprie regole. - Given that autonomy is important, everyone has their own rules.

Dato che l'autonomia è importante, ognuno ha le proprie regole.

Given that autonomy is important, everyone has their own rules.

Breakdown of Dato che l'autonomia è importante, ognuno ha le proprie regole.

Questions & Answers about Dato che l'autonomia è importante, ognuno ha le proprie regole.

Why do we use proprie here instead of sue for 'their'?

When the subject of a sentence is an indefinite pronoun like ognuno (everyone), nessuno (no one), or chiunque (anyone), you must use a form of proprio for 'their' or 'his/her'. You cannot use suo or sua in these cases.

Why is it proprie (ending in -e) if the subject ognuno is singular?

In Italian, possessive adjectives always agree with the noun being possessed, not the owner. Since the thing being possessed is regole (a feminine plural noun), the adjective must be the feminine plural proprie, regardless of who owns them.

What exactly does dato che mean, and can I use other words for 'since'?

Dato che translates literally to 'given that' and is used to mean 'since' or 'because'. You can also use visto che (seeing that) or siccome (since). They are virtually interchangeable, though siccome is almost always placed at the very beginning of a sentence.

Why is there a definite article (l') before autonomia?

In Italian, abstract nouns like autonomia (autonomy), amore (love), or pazienza (patience) require a definite article when talking about them in a general sense. English drops the article here, but Italian keeps it.