Breakdown of In macchina bisogna allacciare la cintura.
la macchina
the car
in
in / made of (material)
allacciare
to fasten
la cintura
the belt
Questions & Answers about In macchina bisogna allacciare la cintura.
Why is there no word for "you" in the Italian sentence when the translation says "you must"?
Bisogna is an impersonal verb that means "it is necessary" or "one must." It doesn't take a specific subject like "I" or "you." Instead, you use it to state a general rule, and it is always followed directly by an infinitive verb, like allacciare (to fasten).
Why is it just in macchina instead of nella macchina for "in the car"?
When talking about a mode of transportation in a general way, Italian uses the simple preposition in without an article. You will see this with other vehicles too, like in treno (by train) or in aereo (by plane).
The English translation says "your seatbelt". Why does the Italian just say la cintura (the seatbelt)?
In Italian, when the owner of an item is obvious from the context, you usually drop the possessive word (like tua) and just use the definite article (la). This is very common with clothing, body parts, and personal gear. Also, since bisogna is impersonal, there is no specific "you" to attach a possessive to!
If I wanted to say "we must fasten", could I say bisogna allacciamo?