Il pendio ripido e fangoso rende difficile la salita.

and

Breakdown of Il pendio ripido e fangoso rende difficile la salita.

• difficile: difficult
• rendere: to make
• il pendio: the slope; hillside

Questions & Answers about Il pendio ripido e fangoso rende difficile la salita.

Why does the sentence start with Il?

Il is the masculine singular definite article, meaning the.

It is used because pendio is:

• masculine
• singular
• starting with a normal consonant sound

So:

• il pendio = the slope

Italian usually uses articles more regularly than English does, so where English might sometimes drop the, Italian often keeps it.

Why is it pendio ripido e fangoso and not pendio ripida e fangosa?

Because pendio is a masculine singular noun, the adjectives describing it must also be masculine singular.

So:

• pendio → masculine singular
• ripido → masculine singular form of steep
• fangoso → masculine singular form of muddy

If the noun were feminine singular, you would expect:

• ripida
• fangosa

For example:

• la strada ripida e fangosa = the steep, muddy road

What does fangoso mean exactly?