Il libro riguarda il suicidio.

Riguarda means concerns, is about, or deals with.

So Il libro riguarda il suicidio means something like The book concerns suicide or The book is about suicide.

Compared with è su:

• Il libro riguarda il suicidio = a bit more formal or neutral
• Il libro è sul suicidio = very common in everyday speech, literally The book is on/about suicide

Both are correct, but riguardare is a useful verb to know because it is often used in more formal writing and speech.

In Italian, abstract nouns are often used with the definite article where English may not use one.

So Italian says:

• il suicidio
• literally the suicide

But in English, we usually just say suicide in this kind of sentence.

This does not mean a specific single act of suicide. It often refers to the topic or concept in general.

Il is the masculine singular definite article, meaning the.

• il libro = the book

You use il because libro is:

• masculine
• singular
• beginning with a consonant that normally takes il

Some other examples:

• il tavolo = the table
• il problema = the problem

Riguardare is the infinitive form, meaning to concern / to regard / to be about.

In the sentence, the subject is il libro (the book), which is third person singular, so the verb changes to:

• riguardare → riguarda

This is the present tense:

• io riguardo
• tu riguardi
• lui/lei riguarda
• noi riguardiamo
• voi riguardate
• loro riguardano

So Il libro riguarda... means The book concerns... / The book is about...

Yes. Riguardare is a regular -are verb.

Its endings follow the normal pattern for present tense -are verbs:

• -o
• -i
• -a
• -iamo
• -ate
• -ano

That makes it easier to learn and use than an irregular verb.

Yes, in some contexts riguardare can also mean to look at again or to watch again.

For example:

• Ho riguardato il film = I watched the film again

But in Il libro riguarda il suicidio, that meaning does not fit. Here it clearly means concerns / is about.

So this is a good example of a verb whose meaning depends on context.

Because riguardare takes a direct object in Italian.

So Italian says:

• Il libro riguarda il suicidio

There is no preposition between the verb and the thing being talked about.

This can feel different from English, where learners may think of expressions like:

• to be about
• to deal with
• to refer to

But riguardare works more like a direct transitive verb:

• concern something
• regard something

Yes, absolutely.

• Il libro riguarda il suicidio
• Il libro parla del suicidio

Both can mean The book is about suicide.

There is a slight difference in feel:

• riguarda = more neutral, formal, or analytical
• parla di = very common, slightly more conversational, literally talks about

So:

• Il libro parla del suicidio = the book talks about suicide
• Il libro riguarda il suicidio = the book concerns suicide

A helpful approximate pronunciation is:

ree-GWAR-da

Some details:

• ri = like ree
• guar = the gu here gives a hard g sound, roughly gwar
• da = like dah

The stress is on -guar-:

• ri-GUAR-da

And suicidio is approximately:

• swee-CHEE-dyo

Yes. Italian uses the present tense here just as English does.

• Il libro riguarda il suicidio = The book is about suicide

Even though the sentence is not describing an action happening right now, the present tense is natural because it states a general fact about the book.

Not always. Even if riguardare can literally correspond to concern or regard, the best English translation depends on context.

Possible translations here include:

• The book is about suicide
• The book concerns suicide
• The book deals with suicide

For natural everyday English, is about is often the most common translation, even though the Italian verb is riguarda.

Yes. Suicidio is a masculine singular noun, which is why it uses il:

• il suicidio

Many nouns ending in -io are masculine, although you should still learn each noun with its article when possible.

Yes. Riguardare can be used for things, topics, situations, and people.

For example:

• Questo problema riguarda tutti. = This problem concerns everyone.
• La decisione riguarda Maria. = The decision concerns Maria.

So it is a very useful verb beyond just talking about books or topics.