Word
La fiamma illumina la stanza.
Meaning
The flame illuminates the room.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of La fiamma illumina la stanza.
la stanza
the room
illuminare
to illuminate
la fiamma
the flame
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Questions & Answers about La fiamma illumina la stanza.
Why is la used twice?
Because la is the feminine singular definite article, meaning the.
It appears before both fiamma and stanza because both nouns are feminine singular:
- la fiamma = the flame
- la stanza = the room
So the two la words are not there by accident; each one belongs to a different noun.
Why is the verb illumina and not illuminare?
Illuminare is the infinitive, meaning to illuminate or to light up.
In the sentence, the verb has to be conjugated to match the subject:
- illuminare = infinitive
- illumina = he/she/it illuminates
Since the subject is la fiamma = the flame, Italian uses the third-person singular form:
- La fiamma illumina la stanza.
- The flame illuminates the room.
A quick pattern:
- io illumino = I illuminate
- tu illumini = you illuminate
- lui/lei illumina = he/she illuminates
How do I know that la fiamma is the subject and la stanza is the object?