Learn Italian: Questo libro è sottile: ha poche pagine. - This book is thin: it has few pages.

Questo libro è sottile: ha poche pagine.

This book is thin: it has few pages.

Breakdown of Questo libro è sottile: ha poche pagine.

little, few, not very

Questions & Answers about Questo libro è sottile: ha poche pagine.

Why use sottile for thin instead of magro?

In Italian, sottile is used for objects that are physically thin or slim (like a book, a slice of cheese, or a piece of paper). Magro is used for people and animals to mean thin or skinny.

Why does poche end in -e here?

Here, poche is an adjective describing the feminine plural noun pagine (pages), so it has to agree in gender and number. When poco is used as an adverb meaning 'not much', it doesn't change, but as an adjective describing a noun, it changes to match the noun.

Why is there an 'h' in the middle of poche?

The singular feminine form is poca, which has a hard 'c' sound (like a 'k'). To keep that hard 'c' sound before the 'e' in the plural ending, Italian adds an 'h'. Without it, the word would be pronounced with a soft 'ch' sound.

Why isn't there a word for 'it' before ha?

Italian drops subject pronouns like 'it' when it is clear from the context what is doing the action. Here, ha (has) clearly refers back to Questo libro (This book).