Breakdown of La principessa ha un'aura magica, un che di magnetico.
una
a / an (feminine)
avere
to have
la
her/it (direct object)
magico
magical
la principessa
the princess
l'aura
the aura (f)
un che di
a certain something / an undefinable quality
magnetico
magnetic
Questions & Answers about La principessa ha un'aura magica, un che di magnetico.
What exactly is un che di, and how does it work in this sentence?
Un che di is a fixed phrase that literally translates to "a what of". It is used as a noun phrase to mean "a certain something" or an "undefinable quality", similar to the French "je ne sais quoi". You build it by placing an adjective directly after di, which gives us un che di magnetico (a certain magnetic something).
Since the sentence is about a princess and her aura (both feminine), why is the adjective magnetico masculine?
The adjective magnetico isn't describing the princess or the aura directly. Instead, it modifies the phrase un che ("a something"). Because un che is treated grammatically as a masculine singular noun phrase, any adjective that follows di in this structure must always be masculine singular, regardless of who or what possesses that quality.
Could I use qualcosa instead of un che here?
Why is there an apostrophe in un'aura?
This is a quick spelling refresher: aura is a feminine noun starting with a vowel. The feminine indefinite article una drops its final 'a' and adds an apostrophe before a vowel to make pronunciation smoother (una aura becomes un'aura). Masculine nouns starting with a vowel, on the other hand, just use the article un with no apostrophe.
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