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spuntare

to sprout

verb spoon-TAH-reh Rare
Animals & Nature Plants

Also means

to check off; to pop up

Usage Note

Spuntare has three distinct senses that share the same form: (1) to sprout or emerge (i fiori stanno spuntando), (2) to appear unexpectedly (da dove sei spuntato fuori?, 'where did you pop up from?'), and (3) to tick off an item from a list (spuntare le voci di una lista). Senses 1–2 use essere in compound tenses; sense 3 uses avere. The auxiliary choice is therefore meaning-dependent.

Examples

"In primavera spuntano i fiori nei campi."

Natural Translation

In spring flowers sprout in the fields.

Literal Translation

In spring sprout the flowers in-the fields.

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