In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
[QUOTE=Licciana]The ending of the past participle can be feminine to agree with a preceeding feminine direct object. In your example "[COLOR=red]l[/COLOR]'abbiamo fatta" the direct object must be refering to a feminine noun but you cannot tell because of the ellision of "la" with "abbiamo". At least I think that's the correct explanation.[/QUOTE]
I agree with Licciana's explanation; it only applies to direct objects. Let's say you ask the questions 'Did you read the book?' (Hai letto il libro?) and 'Did you read the magazine?' (Hai letto la rivista?) the responses would be 'L'ho letto' (or 'No, non l'ho letto') and 'L'ho letta' (or 'No, non l'ho letta').
I know it seems strange, but what we all have learned is that there are always exceptions to the rules in Italian grammar - and then exceptions to the exceptions!!
Hope this helps
In reply to A newbie all over again! by Annec
Perhaps it would be easier to remember that if the direct object pronoun comes before the verb, then the past participle ending must agree with the gender of the original object.....or maybe this sounds even more confusing!:-)
The ending of the past participle can be feminine to agree with a preceeding feminine direct object. In your example "[COLOR=red]l[/COLOR]'abbiamo fatta" the direct object must be refering to a feminine noun but you cannot tell because of the ellision of "la" with "abbiamo". At least I think that's the correct explanation.