Breakdown of Lei è un'idealista che odia l'egoismo della società.
essere
to be
lei
she
una
a / an (feminine)
di
of, from
odiare
to hate
che
who, that (relative pronoun)
la società
society
l'egoismo
selfishness
l'idealista
idealist
Questions & Answers about Lei è un'idealista che odia l'egoismo della società.
Why does idealista end in -a when it refers to a woman, and would it end in -o for a man?
Words ending in the suffix -ista (which often denote adherents to an ideology or professions) are identical in the singular for both men and women: they always end in -a. We can tell this is feminine because of the pronoun Lei and the apostrophe in un'idealista. For a man, it would be un idealista (without the apostrophe). In the plural, however, they do change: gli idealisti (masculine) and le idealiste (feminine).
How does the suffix -ismo work in the word egoismo?
Why is it della società rather than just di società like in English?
Italian requires definite articles before abstract nouns or nouns that represent broad, general concepts. Since society is being discussed in a general sense here, it needs the feminine singular article la, which combines with the preposition di to form the articulated preposition della.
Why is odia in the indicative mood here? Doesn't che sometimes trigger the subjunctive after an indefinite article?
Relative clauses starting with che only take the subjunctive if the noun being described is hypothetical or being sought out. Since this sentence states a fact about a specific, existing person (Lei), the indicative odia is correct. If the sentence were about looking for someone fitting this description (for example, 'Cerco un'idealista che odi...'), you would use the subjunctive because that person's existence is not guaranteed.
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