Breakdown of In quella rubrica vi si commenta la notizia con la satira.
quello
that
in
in / made of (material)
con
with
si
one (impersonal)
la notizia
the news
vi
there (formal)
la satira
the satire
la rubrica
the segment
commentare
to comment on
Questions & Answers about In quella rubrica vi si commenta la notizia con la satira.
Why does this sentence use vi si instead of ci si to mean 'one comments there'?
The standard word for 'there' is ci. However, if you put ci in front of the impersonal si, you get ci si. In Italian, ci si is exclusively reserved for making reflexive verbs impersonal (like ci si lava, 'one washes oneself'). To avoid confusion, when you want to combine 'there' with the impersonal si, the locative ci is substituted with vi, giving us vi si.
If in quella rubrica already tells us where it happens, why add vi?
Italian frequently uses a locative pronoun (ci or vi) to refer back to a place that was introduced at the very beginning of the sentence. While it feels redundant in English ('In that segment, the news is commented on there'), in Italian this 'echo' makes the sentence flow more naturally and firmly anchors the action to the location.
Does rubrica mean 'rubric' here?
No, it is a false friend. In media contexts like newspapers, television, or radio, una rubrica refers to a recurring column, section, or segment. In everyday life, it also means an 'address book' or the 'contacts list' on your phone.
Why is commenta singular? Is the subject la notizia or la satira?
The subject is la notizia. Because this sentence uses the passivating si (si passivante), the verb must agree with the thing receiving the action. Since la notizia (the news) is singular, the verb takes the singular form commenta. If it were plural, like gli eventi (the events), the phrase would change to vi si commentano gli eventi.
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