Vedo l'animale nel giardino.

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Breakdown of Vedo l'animale nel giardino.

• vedere: to see
• il giardino: the garden
• nel: in
• l'animale: the animal

Questions & Answers about Vedo l'animale nel giardino.

Why do we say l’animale instead of il animale?

In Italian, when a masculine noun begins with a vowel (a, e, i, o, u), the definite article il changes to l’ for easier pronunciation and flow. So il animale would sound awkward; that’s why it becomes l’animale.

Why don’t we see the subject pronoun io (meaning I) in Vedo l’animale nel giardino?

Italian often omits subject pronouns because the verb endings already indicate who is doing the action. In vedo, the -o ending tells us the subject is io (I). Including io is not incorrect, but native speakers usually drop it unless they need to emphasize the subject.

What does nel mean, and why not in il?

Nel is a contraction of in + il, meaning in the. You’ll commonly see forms like nello, nella, nell’ depending on the gender and number of the noun that follows. In il giardino is never used in correct Italian; nel giardino is the correct form.

Is Vedo l’animale nel giardino the only word order possible?

While this is the standard word order, Italian can sometimes rearrange the elements for emphasis. For example, Nel giardino vedo l’animale could place emphasis on the location, but typically you learn the basic subject-verb-object syntax first: (Io) vedo l’animale nel giardino.