Ormai sono adulto e lavoro.

Questions & Answers about Ormai sono adulto e lavoro.

What exactly does ormai mean here, and how is it different from già?
Ormai means "by now" or "at this point." While già simply states that something happened ("already"), ormai implies that a situation has changed over time and a new stage has been reached. Here, it emphasizes the permanent transition into adulthood.
Why does the sentence say sono adulto instead of sono un adulto?
Just like with professions (for example, sono medico for "I am a doctor"), Italian often drops the indefinite article (un or una) after the verb essere when stating a category you belong to, like a stage of life. You can also simply think of adulto here as an adjective meaning "grown-up."
Wait, isn't lavoro a noun meaning "job" or "work"?
It can be! The noun il lavoro (the job) and the "I" form of the verb lavorare (to work) are spelled exactly the same. Because there is no article (il) here and it follows e (and) to mirror the previous verb sono, context tells us it is the verb: "I work."
How would I use this lesson's time prepositions to say "I have been working since I became an adult"?
You would use da, which shows an action that started in the past and is still happening. However, because you are linking to a whole phrase rather than a single noun, you must add quando: Lavoro da quando sono adulto. The sentence above is simpler, using the adverb ormai to set the timeframe instead.

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