Breakdown of I bambini hanno difficoltà con questo esercizio.
il bambino
the child
l'esercizio
the exercise (m)
avere difficoltà
to have difficulty
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Questions & Answers about I bambini hanno difficoltà con questo esercizio.
The current lesson is about nouns that require a or di before an infinitive. Why does this sentence use con instead?
The lesson covers how to connect a noun to an action (a verb in the infinitive). In this sentence, difficoltà is followed by another noun (questo esercizio), not a verb. When you have difficulty with a thing, you use avere difficoltà con + noun. If you wanted to say they have difficulty doing the exercise, you would use the preposition a before the infinitive: hanno difficoltà a fare questo esercizio.
Is difficoltà singular or plural here, and how can you tell?
It is used as a singular abstract concept here. However, difficoltà is an invariable noun. Italian nouns ending in an accented vowel (like difficoltà, città, or virtù) do not change their spelling in the plural. You can only determine their number by looking at the articles or adjectives that modify them (for example, la difficoltà versus le difficoltà).
Why isn't there an article before difficoltà?
When discussing a general state or abstract concept, Italian often omits the article in fixed expressions. The phrase is simply avere difficoltà (to have difficulty). This follows the same pattern as other common avere + noun expressions you already know, such as avere fame (to be hungry) or avere paura (to be afraid).