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Il frigorifero è praticamente vuoto.

Il frigorifero è praticamente vuoto.
The fridge is practically empty.
From Lesson 85:Adverbs of manner (-mente)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Il frigorifero è praticamente vuoto.

How do we get the word praticamente from the adjective pratico?
To form an adverb of manner in Italian, you take the feminine singular form of the adjective and add -mente. The masculine adjective is pratico, so we change it to the feminine pratica, and then add the suffix to get praticamente (practically).
Why does praticamente use the feminine form pratica if the fridge is masculine?
Adverbs do not have gender or number, so they never change to match the noun! The feminine form pratica is simply the base recipe for creating the adverb. Meanwhile, the adjective vuoto (empty) correctly ends in -o because it describes the masculine noun il frigorifero.
Where does the emphasis go when pronouncing praticamente?
When you add -mente to an adjective, the main spoken stress always lands on the -men- part of the suffix. So you will pronounce it as pra-ti-ca-MEN-te.
Can praticamente mean both 'in a practical way' and 'almost'?
Yes! Just like in English, it can describe doing something practically, but Italians very frequently use it to mean 'almost' or 'virtually' in everyday conversation, exactly as it is used here to say the fridge is almost completely empty.

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