Breakdown of È disonesto prendere il merito altrui.
essere
to be
prendere
to take
disonesto
dishonest
altrui
of others / other people's
il merito
the credit / the merit (recognition)
Questions & Answers about È disonesto prendere il merito altrui.
Why is altrui placed after merito, and could I put it before?
Altrui means 'other people's' or 'of others'. Unlike most possessive adjectives (like mio or tuo), altrui is invariable and must almost always be placed strictly after the noun it modifies. So, il merito altrui is correct, but l'altrui merito is highly literary and sounds unnatural in modern conversational Italian.
Could I say il merito degli altri instead of il merito altrui?
In English we say 'take credit', but here the word is merito. Can I use credito?
No, in this context you must use merito. While credito translates to 'credit' in a financial or academic sense (like a credit card, carta di credito), when you are talking about deserving praise or recognition for an achievement, Italian uses merito (merit). Therefore, 'to take credit' is translated as prendere il merito.
Why isn't there a preposition like di before prendere?
When you have an impersonal construction starting with è plus an adjective (like è disonesto, è facile, è importante) and it is followed directly by an action in a general sense, no preposition is needed. The infinitive prendere acts as the actual subject of the sentence ('taking others' credit is dishonest'), so you link them directly without di or a.
Learn È disonesto prendere il merito altrui and more in Italian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free