L'interprete di conferenza interpreta l'intervento.

Because Italian uses elision with the singular definite article when the following word begins with a vowel.

• il + interprete becomes l'interprete
• il + intervento becomes l'intervento

This is very common in Italian. Compare:

• il libro = the book
• l'amico = the friend
• l'interprete = the interpreter

The apostrophe shows that the vowel of the article has been dropped.

They are related, but they are different parts of speech:

• interprete = interpreter → a noun
• interpreta = interprets → a verb form

In this sentence:

• L'interprete = the interpreter
• interpreta = interprets

So the structure is:

• subject: L'interprete di conferenza
• verb: interpreta
• object: l'intervento

This kind of similarity is normal in Italian because many nouns and verbs come from the same root.

Interpreta is the third person singular present tense of interpretare.

That means it can mean:

• he interprets
• she interprets
• it interprets
• or, depending on context, is interpreting

Italian present tense often covers both the simple present and the present progressive meaning that English separates.

For example:

• L'interprete interpreta l'intervento = the interpreter interprets the speech / is interpreting the speech

Interprete can be masculine or feminine. It is a noun of common gender.

So you can have:

• l'interprete = the interpreter
• un interprete bravo = a good male interpreter
• un'interprete brava = a good female interpreter

In your sentence, l'interprete by itself does not clearly show gender, because l' is used for both masculine and feminine before a vowel.

You would usually know the gender from:

• context
• an adjective
• a pronoun
• or extra information

Di conferenza means of conference or more naturally conference in English.

So:

• interprete di conferenza = conference interpreter

This is a very common Italian pattern:

• noun + di + noun

It is used to classify or describe something, similar to English noun compounds.

Examples:

• sala d'attesa = waiting room
• scarpe da tennis = tennis shoes
• interprete di conferenza = conference interpreter

So di conferenza tells you what kind of interpreter this is.

Not always. This is an important point because intervento is often a false friend for English speakers.

Depending on context, intervento can mean:

• intervention
• contribution
• speech
• talk
• address
• remark

In a conference or meeting context, l'intervento often means something like:

• the speech
• the talk
• the speaker's contribution

So even if the English translation has already been given, it is useful to know that intervento does not always mean the English word intervention in the narrow sense.

This is the normal Italian subject–verb–object order:

• L'interprete di conferenza = subject
• interpreta = verb
• l'intervento = object

So it works very much like standard English word order:

• The conference interpreter interprets the speech

Italian can sometimes change word order for emphasis, but this sentence uses the most neutral and straightforward structure.

Italian usually uses articles more often than English.

Here both nouns are definite:

• L'interprete = the interpreter
• l'intervento = the speech / the intervention

In Italian, leaving out the article would usually sound unnatural in a sentence like this.

So:

• L'interprete di conferenza interpreta l'intervento = natural
• Interprete di conferenza interpreta intervento = not normal Italian

This is something English speakers often need to get used to, because English sometimes omits articles where Italian does not.

A useful guide is the stress:

• interprete → stress on pre: in-ter-PRE-te
• interpreta → stress on pre: in-ter-PRE-ta
• intervento → stress on ven: in-ter-VEN-to

A few pronunciation notes:

• r is normally tapped or lightly rolled in Italian
• e is always pronounced, never silent
• t is clear and crisp
• the final vowels must be pronounced:
  • interprete
  • interpreta
  • intervento

So do not reduce the endings the way English often does.

This is a very common learner question.

• interpretare = to interpret, usually spoken language
• tradurre = to translate, often written language

So a person who works orally at a conference is an:

• interprete di conferenza

not normally a traduttore, unless they are translating written texts too.

That is why the verb here is interpreta, not traduce.

You may hear other expressions in some contexts, but interprete di conferenza is the standard and most natural term for conference interpreter.

Italian often prefers di to define the type of professional role:

• insegnante di inglese
• medico di base
• interprete di conferenza

So for a learner, interprete di conferenza is the safest expression to use.