Breakdown of Mi lavo i denti con lo spazzolino.
con
with
lavarsi
to wash oneself
il dente
the tooth
lo spazzolino
the toothbrush
Questions & Answers about Mi lavo i denti con lo spazzolino.
Why does the sentence use Mi lavo i denti instead of Lavo i miei denti?
In Italian, when talking about daily grooming or body parts, you use a reflexive verb rather than a possessive word like my. Mi lavo literally means I wash myself, and i denti is the teeth. So together it means I wash my teeth.
Why use lavo which means wash instead of a word for brush?
Italians say they wash their teeth (lavarsi i denti) rather than brush them. The verb for to brush is spazzolare, but you would normally use that for hair or clothes, not teeth.
Why is the article lo used for spazzolino instead of il?
Does spazzolino literally mean small brush?
Exactly! The standard word for a brush is la spazzola. By adding the suffix -ino, you make the word diminutive, meaning a smaller version of the object. So lo spazzolino is the little brush.
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