L'attenzione è importante quando cammini sul pavimento bagnato.

Attention is important when you walk on the wet floor.

Breakdown of L'attenzione è importante quando cammini sul pavimento bagnato.

• tu: you
• essere: to be
• su: on
• camminare: to walk
• quando: when
• l'attenzione: the attention
• il pavimento: the floor
• bagnato: wet
• importante: important

Questions & Answers about L'attenzione è importante quando cammini sul pavimento bagnato.

Why do we say “L’attenzione” with the article “l’” instead of just “attenzione”?

In Italian, using la or l’ with abstract nouns (such as attenzione) is very common. When la precedes a word starting with a vowel, it contracts to l’. So l’attenzione is simply “the attention” in English, and it sounds more natural in Italian to include that definite article.

Why do we use “è importante” instead of something like “importante è”?

Italian syntax usually places the verb before the adjective when making a statement about someone or something. “È importante” follows the standard subject–verb–complement structure (with l’attenzione being the subject and è importante being the verb + complement).

Why is “quando cammini” in the second-person singular?

In Italian, it’s typical to address someone directly using the “tu” form in a general statement. “Quando cammini” means “when you walk” (informal singular). The tu pronoun is implied but not always stated. You could also see a more formal version like “quando cammina” (using Lei) in more formal or polite contexts.

Why “sul” instead of just “su” before “pavimento”?

“Sul” is a contraction of “su + il” (“on the” in English). Since pavimento is a masculine noun that takes the article il, we get su il → sul (“on the floor”). In Italian, combining the preposition with the definite article is very common (e.g., nel, sullo, nella, etc.).

Why is “bagnato” in the masculine form here?

The word pavimento is masculine, so any adjectives describing it must also agree in gender and number. Bagnato describes the pavimento, so it uses the masculine singular form: pavimento bagnato.