Breakdown of Le cianfrusaglie che ho accumulate sono troppe.
essere
to be
troppo
too, too much, too many
avere
to have
che
who, that (relative pronoun)
la cianfrusaglia
the knick-knack
accumulare
to accumulate
Questions & Answers about Le cianfrusaglie che ho accumulate sono troppe.
Why does accumulate end in -e instead of -o if it is conjugated with avere?
Normally, past participles with avere end in -o. However, when a relative pronoun like che acts as the direct object and comes before the verb, you have the option to make the past participle agree with the noun che refers to. Here, che refers to the feminine plural le cianfrusaglie, so accumulato optionally becomes accumulate.
Is it wrong to say che ho accumulato instead?
Not at all! With the relative pronoun che, agreement is completely optional. Saying che ho accumulato is perfectly correct and actually more common in everyday spoken Italian. The agreed form accumulate sounds a bit more formal or literary.
Wait, I thought past participle agreement was mandatory when the direct object comes before the verb?
It is mandatory with the third-person direct object pronouns (lo, la, li, le). For example, le ho accumulate (I accumulated them) requires the -e ending. But when the preceding direct object is the relative pronoun che, the agreement is entirely optional.
Is cianfrusaglie a common word, and what exactly does it mean?
Why is it sono troppe instead of sono troppo?
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