ELONIO
Log inSign up

Osservandola, il regista ha fatto cambiare la postura all'attrice.

Osservandola, il regista ha fatto cambiare la postura all'attrice.
Observing her, the director had the actress change her posture.
From Lesson 390:Pronouns with gerunds (facendolo, avendolo fatto)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Osservandola, il regista ha fatto cambiare la postura all'attrice.

Why is the pronoun la attached to the end of osservando?
In Italian, object pronouns must attach directly to the end of a gerund (the -ando or -endo form) when it is used on its own outside of a continuous tense. Here, osservando (observing) plus la (her) combines into the single word osservandola.
Why is the preposition a used in all'attrice if the director made her change?
This sentence uses the causative construction (fare + infinitive). A strict rule applies here: when the infinitive verb (cambiare) takes a direct object (la postura), the person actually performing the action (l'attrice) must become an indirect object, introduced by the preposition a.
Could we change the word order to say ha fatto all'attrice cambiare?
No, in the fare + infinitive structure, the two verbs (fatto cambiare) act as a single, inseparable block. You cannot split them with the agent or the object. Everything else must come after the infinitive.
Regista ends in -a, so why does it take the masculine article il?
Nouns for professions ending in -ista (like regista, giornalista, dentista) use the exact same ending for both men and women. The article is what tells you the gender. Il regista indicates a male director, whereas a female director would be la regista.

Learn Osservandola, il regista ha fatto cambiare la postura all'attrice 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
Start learning Italian →