Questa canzone è popolare.

Because canzone is a feminine singular noun in Italian, and questo/questa must agree with the noun it refers to.

• questo = this, masculine singular
• questa = this, feminine singular

So:

• questo libro = this book
• questa canzone = this song

In Italian, grammatical gender is something you usually learn together with the noun. Canzone is feminine, even though it ends in -e, which does not always clearly show gender.

A good habit is to learn nouns with an article:

• la canzone = the song

That tells you it is feminine.

Because questa already works as a demonstrative adjective meaning this. In Italian, demonstratives like questo, questa, questi, queste normally replace the article, rather than appearing with it.

So you say:

• questa canzone = this song

not normally:

• la questa canzone ❌

È is the verb essere in the third person singular: is.

• è = is

The accent matters because e without an accent usually means and.

So:

• Questa canzone è popolare. = This song is popular.
• pane e formaggio = bread and cheese

This is a very important spelling distinction in Italian.

It is the present tense of essere.

Here is the relevant part of the conjugation:

• io sono = I am
• tu sei = you are
• lui/lei è = he/she is

In Questa canzone è popolare, questa canzone is the subject, so the verb is è = is.

Because it is a predicate adjective coming after the verb è.

The structure is:

• Questa canzone = subject
• è = verb
• popolare = adjective describing the subject

This is very similar to English:

• This song is popular.

So the word order here is very natural and standard in both languages.

Because popolare is an adjective that has the same singular form for masculine and feminine.

• masculine singular: popolare
• feminine singular: popolare

It only changes in the plural:

• masculine plural: popolari
• feminine plural: popolari

Examples:

• un cantante popolare = a popular singer
• una canzone popolare = a popular song
• canzoni popolari = popular songs

A simple approximation for an English speaker is:

• questa ≈ KWEH-sta
• canzone ≈ kan-TSO-neh
• è ≈ eh
• popolare ≈ po-po-LA-reh

A few helpful notes:

• qu in Italian sounds like kw
• z in canzone is pronounced like ts
• the final vowels are pronounced clearly
• r in Italian is usually tapped or lightly rolled

Usually, in this kind of sentence, popolare comes after the verb because it is not directly next to the noun; it is part of is popular.

But if you are using it directly before or after a noun inside a noun phrase, Italian generally prefers it after the noun:

• una canzone popolare = a popular song

Putting it before the noun is much less neutral and may sound literary or marked in many cases.

So for this sentence, Questa canzone è popolare is the normal wording.

Yes, but it means something slightly different in structure.

• Questa canzone è popolare. = This song is popular.
• Questa è una canzone popolare. = This is a popular song.

The first sentence talks about this song and says it is popular. The second points to something and identifies it as a popular song.

So both are correct, but they are not exactly the same sentence.

Not exactly.

• popolare usually means popular
• famoso/famosa means famous

A song can be popolare because many people like it. A song or singer can be famoso/a because they are well-known.

Sometimes the ideas overlap, but the words are not interchangeable in every context.

If you want to say These songs are popular, you would say:

• Queste canzoni sono popolari.

Changes:

• questa → queste because the noun is now feminine plural
• canzone → canzoni
• è → sono
• popolare → popolari

So this sentence is a good model for learning agreement in Italian.