Learn Italian: I bambini si annoiano a scuola. - The children get bored at school.

I bambini si annoiano a scuola.

The children get bored at school.

Breakdown of I bambini si annoiano a scuola.

Questions & Answers about I bambini si annoiano a scuola.

Why do we need the word si before the verb?

The verb annoiare means to bore someone else. To say that someone gets bored, Italian uses the reflexive form annoiarsi, which literally means to bore oneself. Because i bambini is a third-person plural subject, we use the reflexive pronoun si.

Since this lesson is about the passato prossimo, how would I change this sentence to the past tense?

In the passato prossimo, all reflexive verbs take essere as their helping verb. Because i bambini is a masculine plural subject, the past participle also has to match it by ending in -i. The past tense sentence becomes: I bambini si sono annoiati a scuola.

Why is it just a scuola instead of alla scuola?

In Italian, certain common locations do not use the definite article when paired with the preposition a (to or at). a scuola is a fixed phrase meaning at school, very similar to how we say at school in English instead of at the school. Other examples include a casa and a letto.

What is the dictionary form of the verb annoiano?

The base reflexive verb is annoiarsi (to get bored). If you drop the reflexive ending, the standard verb is annoiare, which conjugates like a normal -are verb.