Il rumore allontana il lupo.

the noise

Breakdown of Il rumore allontana il lupo.

• il lupo: the wolf
• allontanare: to move away

Questions & Answers about Il rumore allontana il lupo.

What does allontana mean here?

Allontana is the third-person singular form of the verb allontanare, which means to move away, to drive away, to keep at a distance, or sometimes to scare off, depending on context.

So in Il rumore allontana il lupo, allontana means something like:

• drives away
• keeps away
• scares off

Literally, the idea is that the noise causes the wolf to go farther away.

Why is it allontana and not allontanare?

Allontanare is the infinitive form, meaning to drive away or to move away.

In a full sentence, Italian normally needs a conjugated verb, not the infinitive. Since the subject is il rumore (the noise), which is third-person singular, the verb becomes:

• allontanare = to drive away
• allontana = drives away

So:

• Il rumore allontana il lupo. = The noise drives the wolf away.

Why is il used twice?