Learn Italian: In cucina c'era soltanto una mosca. - In the kitchen there was only a fly.

In cucina c'era soltanto una mosca.

In the kitchen there was only a fly.

Breakdown of In cucina c'era soltanto una mosca.

la cucina

the kitchen; the cuisine

la mosca

the fly

Elon.io is an online learning platform

We have an entire course teaching Italian grammar and vocabulary.

Start learning Italian now

Questions & Answers about In cucina c'era soltanto una mosca.

How could I apply the suffixes from this lesson to describe the fly as a 'nasty, annoying fly'?

You can drop the final vowel of mosca and add the pejorative suffix -accia to make moscaccia. This perfectly captures the feeling of a pesky, unwanted fly!

Can I use a diminutive suffix on cucina to say 'a small kitchen'?

Yes! You can use cucinino or cucinotto to mean a kitchenette or a very small kitchen. Notice how the gender changes to masculine for both of these altered forms, which is a common quirk when adding suffixes to certain feminine nouns.

Is there a difference between using soltanto and solo in this sentence?

In this context, they are completely interchangeable. Both mean 'only' or 'just'. Soltanto is strictly an adverb, while solo can be an adjective or an adverb, but here they would function exactly the same way.

Why is it in cucina and not nella cucina?

For rooms of the house, Italian typically uses the simple preposition in without the definite article (for example: in bagno, in camera, in salotto). You generally only use nella cucina if you are describing it or being specific, like nella cucina nuova (in the new kitchen).