Guardo una nuvola bianca passare sopra la torre antica.

I watch a white cloud pass over the ancient tower.

Breakdown of Guardo una nuvola bianca passare sopra la torre antica.

• io: I
• guardare: to watch
• antico: ancient
• la nuvola: the cloud
• bianco: white
• passare: to pass
• sopra: over
• la torre: the tower

Questions & Answers about Guardo una nuvola bianca passare sopra la torre antica.

Why is the verb passare in the infinitive form after guardo?

In Italian, verbs like guardare (“to watch”) often take an object followed by an infinitive to indicate the action being observed. This is similar to the English construction “I watch a cloud pass,” where pass is in its base form. Thus, passare remains in the infinitive to complement guardo.

What is the meaning of guardo, and why isn’t the subject (I) explicitly mentioned?

Guardo means “I watch.” Italian is a pro-drop language, which means that subject pronouns are typically omitted when the verb conjugation clearly indicates the subject. Since guardo carries the ending -o, it is understood that “I” am the one watching.

How does adjective placement work in the phrase una nuvola bianca?

In Italian, descriptive adjectives such as colors usually follow the noun they modify. Here, nuvola means “cloud” and bianca means “white,” so una nuvola bianca correctly translates to “a white cloud.” Additionally, the adjective agrees with the noun in gender and number (both are feminine singular).

What does the preposition sopra indicate in this sentence?

Sopra means “above” or “over.” In the sentence, sopra la torre antica tells us that the cloud is passing over (or above) the ancient tower. It specifies the spatial relation between the cloud and the tower.

How does adjective agreement work in la torre antica?

In Italian, adjectives must agree with the noun in gender and number. Torre is a feminine singular noun, so the adjective antica is also in the feminine singular form. This agreement ensures that la torre antica correctly translates to “the ancient tower.”

Can this sentence be expressed using a progressive form, and how would that change the structure?

Yes, it can. While the original sentence uses a simple present construction, Italian can also express ongoing actions using a progressive form. For example, you might say, Sto guardando una nuvola bianca che sta passando sopra la torre antica. Here, sto guardando (“I am watching”) and sta passando (“is passing”) emphasize the ongoing nature of the actions. However, the original sentence is perfectly natural for describing a momentary observation.