La madre apre la finestra per vedere il giardino.

the window

Breakdown of La madre apre la finestra per vedere il giardino.

• vedere: to see
• il giardino: the garden
• aprire: to open
• la madre: the mother

Questions & Answers about La madre apre la finestra per vedere il giardino.

Why is the feminine article la used before madre and finestra?

In Italian, la is the definite article for singular feminine nouns. Madre and finestra are both feminine and singular, so we use la.

Why do we use the verb apre instead of something like apri?

In Italian, apre is the third-person singular present tense form of aprire (to open). Since the subject is la madre (third-person singular), apre is the correct conjugation.

What is the function of per in per vedere?

Per serves to indicate the purpose or intention of the action. Here, it means "in order to see the garden." So per vedere explains why she opens the window.

Why does the sentence use il before giardino?

Giardino is a masculine singular noun, and il is the matching definite article for masculine singular nouns not beginning with special consonant clusters (like z or s + consonant). Therefore, we use il giardino.

Could I say per guardare il giardino instead of per vedere il giardino?

Yes, guardare and vedere are both related to seeing, but vedere is more general (“to see”), while guardare is more about actively looking or watching. Both can work, but they convey slightly different nuances.

Do I need to use la again before madre if I mention her a second time in the same paragraph?

Generally, yes. In Italian, we typically keep the definite article before nouns, even on repeat mentions, unless we drop the noun entirely and use a pronoun instead.