Il suo sguardo è serio.

In Italian, a possessive adjective like suo usually goes together with the definite article, so il suo sguardo is the normal form.

• il = the
• suo = his / her / its / your (formal)
• sguardo = look / gaze

So Italian often says something that is literally closer to the his gaze than to English his gaze.

A very common exception is with some singular family nouns:

• mia madre = my mother
• tuo fratello = your brother

But sguardo is not a family noun, so il suo sguardo is correct.

Suo is a possessive adjective. It can mean:

• his
• her
• its
• your (formal, singular)

So by itself, suo does not tell you whether the owner is male or female. You understand that from context.

For example, il suo sguardo could mean:

• his look
• her look
• your look (when speaking formally)

Italian often leaves this kind of information to context.

Because the possessive adjective agrees with the thing possessed, not with the owner.

Here, the possessed noun is sguardo, which is:

• singular
• masculine

So the correct form is suo.

Compare:

• il suo sguardo = his/her gaze
• la sua voce = his/her voice

Even if the person is female, you still say il suo sguardo, because sguardo is masculine.

Yes, sguardo is masculine singular.

You can tell from:

• the article il
• the possessive form suo
• the adjective serio

All three match a masculine singular noun:

• il = masculine singular article
• suo = masculine singular possessive
• serio = masculine singular adjective

So the sentence is internally consistent: il suo sguardo è serio

Because serio describes sguardo, and sguardo is masculine singular.

In Italian, adjectives usually agree with the noun they describe:

• masculine singular: serio
• feminine singular: seria
• masculine plural: seri
• feminine plural: serie

So:

• il suo sguardo è serio
• la sua espressione è seria

The adjective agrees with the noun, not with the person being talked about.

Not exactly.

Sguardo means something like:

• look
• gaze
• expression in the eyes

It is more about the way someone looks at something or the feeling their eyes communicate.

Occhi simply means eyes.

So:

• ha gli occhi azzurri = he/she has blue eyes
• ha uno sguardo serio = he/she has a serious look/gaze

In your sentence, sguardo is about expression, not just the physical eyes.

È is the third-person singular form of essere, meaning to be.

So:

• il suo sguardo = his/her look
• è = is
• serio = serious

Literally: His/Her look is serious.

Also note that è has an accent. This is important, because:

• è = is
• e = and

So you must write è serio, not e serio.

The normal word order is:

Il suo sguardo è serio.

This is the most natural and neutral way to say it.

Italian can sometimes change word order for emphasis, but in ordinary speech or writing, this sentence is best as it is. For example, Serio è il suo sguardo would sound literary, poetic, or strongly emphatic, not neutral.

So for everyday Italian, keep the standard order: subject + verb + adjective

Not as a complete sentence.

Il suo sguardo serio means his/her serious look and is just a noun phrase, not a full statement.

To make a full sentence, you need the verb:

• Il suo sguardo è serio. = complete sentence

Compare:

• il suo sguardo serio mi preoccupa = his/her serious look worries me
• il suo sguardo è serio = his/her look is serious

So without è, it is not a complete sentence in this context.

Sguardo is pronounced approximately ZGWAR-doh.

A few helpful points:

• sgu- here sounds like zgwa-
• the gu is pronounced, so it is not like English guard exactly
• stress falls on -guar-: sguàrdo

And the full sentence sounds roughly like:

eel SWO ZGWAR-doh eh SEH-ryoh

That is only an approximation, but it can help at first.

It can describe either, depending on context, but most naturally it refers to how the person’s gaze appears at that moment.

So it often means something like:

• his/her gaze looks serious
• there is a serious expression in his/her eyes

Italian uses essere here in a very normal way, without necessarily implying a permanent personality trait.

If you said Lui è serio, that describes the person as serious. If you say Il suo sguardo è serio, you are specifically describing the look in the eyes or facial expression.