Il nascondiglio contiene il cifrario.

Because both nascondiglio and cifrario are singular masculine nouns, and each noun has its own definite article.

• il nascondiglio = the hiding place
• il cifrario = the cipher

In Italian, you normally repeat the article before each noun when each noun is a separate noun phrase. English does the same here: the hiding place contains the cipher.

Italian definite articles depend on gender, number, and the sound the next word begins with.

You use il with most singular masculine nouns that begin with a normal consonant sound, like:

• il nascondiglio
• il cifrario

You would use:

• lo before masculine nouns starting with s + consonant, z, ps, gn, x, and similar sounds
  
  • for example: lo studente, lo zaino
• l' before masculine nouns starting with a vowel
  
  • for example: l'amico

So il is correct for both nouns in this sentence.

Yes, both are masculine singular nouns.

A very common pattern in Italian is:

• nouns ending in -o are often masculine singular
• nouns ending in -a are often feminine singular

So:

• nascondiglio → masculine singular
• cifrario → masculine singular

This pattern is very helpful, but it is not perfect for every noun in Italian. Still, for these two words, it works.

Contiene is the third-person singular present tense of contenere, meaning to contain.

So:

• io contengo = I contain
• tu contieni = you contain
• lui/lei contiene = he/she/it contains

In this sentence, the subject is il nascondiglio, which is third-person singular, so the verb must be contiene.

Because Italian, like English, normally uses a conjugated verb in a full sentence.

You are not saying to contain in a dictionary sense; you are saying that the hiding place contains something right now, as a complete statement.

So:

• contenere = to contain
• contiene = contains

No. This is the normal Italian word order:

• subject: Il nascondiglio
• verb: contiene
• object: il cifrario

So it follows the common Subject–Verb–Object pattern, just like English:

• The hiding place / contains / the cipher

Italian can change word order more freely than English in some contexts, but this sentence is straightforward and neutral.

Normally, no. That would sound unnatural and incorrect in standard Italian.

Italian uses articles more often than English does. With ordinary countable nouns like these, you usually need them:

• Il nascondiglio contiene il cifrario.

If you remove the articles, it sounds incomplete or telegraphic, like a note or a label rather than a normal sentence.

Yes. Nascondiglio is a noun meaning hiding place, hideout, or place where something is hidden, depending on context.

It comes from the idea of hiding. So in many contexts it suggests a secret or concealed place.

Depending on the situation, English translations could vary slightly:

• hiding place
• hideout
• secret place

They are related, but they are not always the same.

• cifrario usually refers to a cipher or cipher system, often something used to encode or decode messages.
• codice is a broader word meaning code, and it can also mean things like a law code, a computer code, or a code of rules depending on context.

So if the meaning shown is specifically cipher, then cifrario is a good precise choice.

A rough guide:

• il nascondiglio → eel nah-skohn-DEE-lyoh
• contiene → kohn-tee-EH-neh
• il cifrario → eel chee-FRAH-ryoh

A few useful pronunciation notes:

• ci before a/o/u is usually like ch in English
  
  • so ci in cifrario sounds like chee
• gli in nascondiglio is a special Italian sound, somewhat like lyo, though the true Italian sound is more specific than English ly
• Italian stress matters:
  • nasconDIglio
  • contiEne
  • cifRArio

You would change the nouns, articles, and verb as needed.

Singular:

• Il nascondiglio contiene il cifrario.

Plural:

• I nascondigli contengono i cifrari.

Changes:

• il → i for masculine plural
• nascondiglio → nascondigli
• contiene → contengono
• il → i
• cifrario → cifrari

So the full plural means The hiding places contain the ciphers.

Yes. Depending on context, contiene can be translated in several natural ways in English:

• contains
• holds
• has inside

Contains is the most direct and neutral translation. But in natural English, another wording might sometimes sound better depending on the context. The Italian verb itself is perfectly normal here.