Learn Italian: Non ho tempo oggi: ho molto lavoro. - I don't have time today: I have a lot of work.

Non ho tempo oggi: ho molto lavoro.

I don't have time today: I have a lot of work.

Breakdown of Non ho tempo oggi: ho molto lavoro.

Questions & Answers about Non ho tempo oggi: ho molto lavoro.

Where is the word for 'I' in this sentence?

In Italian, you usually drop subject pronouns like io (I) because the verb itself tells you who is doing the action. The form ho strictly means 'I have', so saying io ho is only needed if you want to add special emphasis.

Do I pronounce the 'h' in ho?

No, the letter 'h' is always silent in Italian. You pronounce ho exactly like the vowel 'o'. The 'h' is just there in writing to tell it apart from the word o, which means 'or'.

Why does non come before the verb instead of after it?

To make a sentence negative in Italian, you always put the word non directly before the verb. So 'I do not have' becomes non ho.

The word lavoro means 'I work'. Why is it translated as 'work' (the noun) here?

Lavoro is a word that does double duty! It is the 'I' form of the verb lavorare (I work), but it is also a masculine noun meaning 'work' or 'a job'. Because it comes after molto (a lot of) in this sentence, we know it is acting as a noun.

Does molto mean 'very' or 'a lot of'?