L'uomo armato lascia l'edificio.

to leave

Breakdown of L'uomo armato lascia l'edificio.

• l'uomo: the man
• l'edificio: the building
• armato: armed

Questions & Answers about L'uomo armato lascia l'edificio.

Why is l'uomo written with l' instead of il uomo?

Because Italian uses elision before many singular nouns that begin with a vowel.

• il + uomo becomes l'uomo
• The apostrophe shows that the vowel of il has been dropped.

This is very common:

• l'amico = the friend
• l'idea = the idea
• l'albero = the tree

So l'uomo simply means the man.

Why is it also l'edificio and not il edificio?

For the same reason: edificio begins with a vowel, so il becomes l'.

• il + edificio → l'edificio

So both l'uomo and l'edificio use the same rule.

Why does armato come after uomo instead of before it?

In Italian, many adjectives normally come after the noun.

So:

• l'uomo armato = the armed man

This is the most natural order here. English often puts adjectives before the noun, but Italian very often puts them after.

You can sometimes move adjectives before the noun in Italian, but that often changes the tone or emphasis. In this sentence, uomo armato is the normal, straightforward order.

What exactly is here?