Past Participle of Indossare

David.

David.

Hello,

Can you help with a grammar question please?

I am on lesson 9.2.

 

The lesson has this phrase in the conversation:

 

L'ha indossata - did you wear it?

 

I thought the past participle of indossare with ‘avere’ would be indossato  - ending in -o'.  Can you tell me why it ends in ‘a’? Is it just irregular?

 

Same question for L'ho messa in una borsa di plastica

 

Thank You!

David.

David.

I think I've just found the answer to my own question:

 

When used with avere, the past participle always ends with the masculine singular o except where the verb is preceded by the direct object pronoun it, him, her, or them (blogs.transparent webpage)

 

In this case the direct object pronoun - L' (la)  refers to giacca, which is feminine  so the past participle will be indossata and messa.

caterina-rocket-italian-tutor

caterina-rocket-italian-tutor

Hi David, 

Thanks for your question! Your reasoning is indeed correct - when used with avere, the past participle ends with “o”, except when there is a direct object pronoun in front of it. In that case, the past participle will need to agree with the gender of the direct object pronoun.

 

E.g. 

Dov'è la giacca? -→ Where is the jacket?

L'ho messa via. -→ I put it away. (because “l'" refers to “giacca”, which is feminine)

 

Quando hai fatto il corso? -→ When did you take the course?

L'ho fatto a gennaio. -→ I took it in January (because “l'” refers to “corso”, which is masculine)

 

 

Hope this helps! :) 

David.

David.

Hi Caterina,

 

Thanks for explaining and the clear examples - they are going straight into my Anki flashcards!

 

It is so useful to have clear answers to grammar questions from a tutor.

 

All the best…

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