Secondo il giornalista, il villaggio è tranquillo.

According to the journalist, the village is peaceful.

Breakdown of Secondo il giornalista, il villaggio è tranquillo.

• essere: to be
• il villaggio: the village
• il giornalista: the journalist
• tranquillo: peaceful
• secondo: according to

Questions & Answers about Secondo il giornalista, il villaggio è tranquillo.

Why is Secondo used at the beginning of the sentence, and how else can I use it in Italian?

Secondo in Italian literally means according to. It's commonly placed at the beginning of a sentence to introduce the source of the opinion or statement. For example, you might say Secondo me (According to me), Secondo il professore (According to the professor), etc. It's also acceptable to move secondo to the end of the phrase in everyday speech, but starting with it is more common.

Why is it il villaggio instead of un villaggio?

The definite article il is used here because the journalist is referring to a specific village that both the speaker and the listener presumably know about. If you just wanted to mention a village in general without specifying which, you would use un villaggio.

What part of speech is tranquillo, and does it change form?

Tranquillo is an adjective meaning calm or quiet. In this sentence, it describes il villaggio, which is singular and masculine, so we use tranquillo in its masculine singular form. If the noun were feminine and singular (like la città), you would say tranquilla. For plural forms: tranquilli (masculine plural) or tranquille (feminine plural).

Is the comma after Secondo il giornalista mandatory?

Using a comma here is very common in Italian when you have an introductory phrase like Secondo il giornalista. It sets off the phrase conveying according to the journalist from the rest of the sentence. While Italian punctuation rules are somewhat flexible, using a comma in such cases is considered standard practice and helps the sentence flow.