La donna sembra ubriaca.

La is the definite article, meaning the. So la donna means the woman.

In Italian, articles are used very often, sometimes more often than in English. Here, because we are talking about the woman, the article is required.

• la = the for a singular feminine noun
• donna = woman

So:

• la donna = the woman

Sembra is the third-person singular form of the verb sembrare, which means to seem.

The subject is la donna, which is she / the woman, so Italian uses the he/she/it form of the verb:

• io sembro = I seem
• tu sembri = you seem
• lui/lei sembra = he/she seems

So La donna sembra... means The woman seems...

Because ubriaca agrees with donna, which is a feminine singular noun.

In Italian, adjectives often change form to match the noun they describe in gender and number.

• ubriaco = masculine singular
• ubriaca = feminine singular
• ubriachi = masculine plural
• ubriache = feminine plural

Since donna is feminine singular, the correct form is ubriaca.

It is an adjective here.

In this sentence, ubriaca describes the woman’s apparent condition after the verb sembra:

• La donna sembra ubriaca.

This is called a predicate adjective: it comes after a verb like essere or sembrare and describes the subject.

Compare:

• La donna è ubriaca. = The woman is drunk.
• La donna sembra ubriaca. = The woman seems drunk.

In Italian, after sembrare, you can often use the adjective directly, without adding essere.

So:

• La donna sembra ubriaca.
  literally: The woman seems drunk

Italian does also allow:

• La donna sembra essere ubriaca.

But that version is usually less natural in a simple sentence like this. The shorter form with just the adjective is very common.

The difference is about certainty.

• è ubriaca = she is drunk
• sembra ubriaca = she seems / appears drunk

So sembra suggests an impression, not a definite fact. The speaker is observing and making a judgment, not stating certainty.

That would mean something different.

• sembra ubriaca = she seems drunk
• sembra un’ubriaca = she seems like a drunk woman / like an alcoholic / like a drunk

In your sentence, ubriaca is just an adjective describing her state. If you add an article, it starts sounding more like a noun expression, with a different nuance.

Also note that it would be un’ubriaca, not una ubriaca, because una contracts before a vowel.

Sometimes yes, but not here if you want to keep the woman as the subject.

Italian often drops subject pronouns like io, tu, lei, because the verb ending already shows the person:

• Sembra ubriaca. = She seems drunk. / It seems she is drunk.

But if you specifically mean the woman, you usually keep la donna:

• La donna sembra ubriaca.

So Italian can omit pronouns, but not important nouns when you need to identify who you are talking about.

The normal, neutral order is:

• La donna sembra ubriaca.

That is the most natural version for everyday use.

Italian word order is somewhat flexible, so other orders are possible for emphasis or style, but they may sound literary, dramatic, or unusual in ordinary conversation.

For a learner, the safest pattern is:

subject + verb + adjective

A rough pronunciation guide:

• sembra ≈ SEM-bra
• ubriaca ≈ oo-bree-AH-ka

A few helpful notes:

• In sembra, the mb is pronounced clearly.
• In ubriaca, the stress is on -a-: ubri-A-ca
• The c in -ca sounds like k

So the whole sentence is roughly:

la DON-na SEM-bra oo-bree-AH-ka

Yes. Depending on context, sembrare can often be translated as:

• to seem
• to appear
• sometimes to look

So La donna sembra ubriaca could be understood in English as:

• The woman seems drunk
• The woman appears drunk
• The woman looks drunk

The Italian verb stays the same, but English may choose different verbs depending on style and context.