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Lo zaino è troppo pesante per la mia schiena.

Lo zaino è troppo pesante per la mia schiena.
The backpack is too heavy for my back.
From Lesson 137:Il corpo (the body)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Lo zaino è troppo pesante per la mia schiena.

Why is the article lo used instead of il for zaino?
Masculine nouns starting with z (as well as s followed by another consonant, gn, or ps) always take the article lo instead of il. So it is lo zaino, and the plural would be gli zaini.
Zaino is a masculine noun. Why does the adjective pesante end in -e instead of -o?
Pesante is part of a category of adjectives that naturally end in -e in the dictionary. These adjectives have the same ending for both masculine and feminine singular nouns. To make them plural, the -e changes to an -i.
Why do we say la mia schiena instead of just mia schiena like in English?
Italian almost always requires a definite article (like la or il) before a possessive word like mia. The main exception is with singular family members (like mio padre), but for body parts, you always must include the article.
How do you pronounce the sch in schiena?
It is pronounced like a hard "sk" in English. Normally, sc followed by an i or e makes a soft "sh" sound. Adding the h in the middle forces it to stay a hard "sk" sound.

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