Answers
Aug 09, 2020 - 05:47 PM
Hi there :-) So the reason why comprare i biglietti (buy the tickets)
turns into comprarli (buy them- when you don't want to repeat the noun again) is because its a masculine plural, not masculine single.
I'll give an example. Say a friend asks you "puoi comprare i biglietti?" and you say "no" so they ask you again, But they don't want to repeat the noun "the tickets" to save a bit of time. So instead your friend asks can you buy them- using the pronoun 'them' to replace the noun 'tickets'. "puoi comprarli"
Whereas if your friend was referring to just one ticket, the ticket "puoi comprare il biglietto?" and then mentioned the ticket again instead of repeating themselves by saying the ticket they would say "puoi comprarlo" meaning can you buy it. It's the same way we in English use pronouns a lot so we don't have to keep repeating the noun.
I can see where you've got confused- your thinking that the definite articles il, i, la and le will match the verb endings. But the verb endings do not match with these. The endings you put on by getting rid of the last letter of the verb (in its infinitive) and adding lo, li, la and le are direct object pronouns. If you don't want to repeat a masculine singular noun and instead want to say 'it' you would say lo, if it was a feminine singular noun it would be la. If you wanted to say 'them' you would say 'le' to refer to a feminine plural noun whether that be a feminine plural object such as your example of le borse or when referring to a group of women. If you wanted to say 'them' to replace a masculine plural noun such as i bicchieri or a group of men you would say 'li'
turns into comprarli (buy them- when you don't want to repeat the noun again) is because its a masculine plural, not masculine single.
I'll give an example. Say a friend asks you "puoi comprare i biglietti?" and you say "no" so they ask you again, But they don't want to repeat the noun "the tickets" to save a bit of time. So instead your friend asks can you buy them- using the pronoun 'them' to replace the noun 'tickets'. "puoi comprarli"
Whereas if your friend was referring to just one ticket, the ticket "puoi comprare il biglietto?" and then mentioned the ticket again instead of repeating themselves by saying the ticket they would say "puoi comprarlo" meaning can you buy it. It's the same way we in English use pronouns a lot so we don't have to keep repeating the noun.
I can see where you've got confused- your thinking that the definite articles il, i, la and le will match the verb endings. But the verb endings do not match with these. The endings you put on by getting rid of the last letter of the verb (in its infinitive) and adding lo, li, la and le are direct object pronouns. If you don't want to repeat a masculine singular noun and instead want to say 'it' you would say lo, if it was a feminine singular noun it would be la. If you wanted to say 'them' you would say 'le' to refer to a feminine plural noun whether that be a feminine plural object such as your example of le borse or when referring to a group of women. If you wanted to say 'them' to replace a masculine plural noun such as i bicchieri or a group of men you would say 'li'
Aug 09, 2020 - 09:41 PM
Ok, thanks for the explanation! Appreciate it.
