Il semaforo è rosso.

to be

Breakdown of Il semaforo è rosso.

• rosso: red
• il semaforo: the traffic light

Questions & Answers about Il semaforo è rosso.

What does Il mean in this sentence, and why is it used?

Il is the masculine definite article in Italian, equivalent to the in English. It’s used here because semaforo (meaning traffic light) is a masculine singular noun, and Italian requires articles to agree in gender and number with the noun they accompany.

Why is the adjective rosso placed after the noun semaforo instead of before it?

In Italian, adjectives that describe inherent characteristics such as color typically follow the noun. In this sentence, rosso follows semaforo to describe its attribute, which is a common word order in Italian.

How does the adjective rosso agree with the noun in terms of gender and number?

Since semaforo is a masculine singular noun, the adjective must also be in the masculine singular form. That’s why we use rosso rather than rossa (feminine singular) or rossi (masculine plural).

What does the accent on è indicate and why is it important?

The accent on è marks it as the third person singular form of essere (to be), meaning is. This accent distinguishes it from e (without an accent), which means and. The accent ensures correct pronunciation and meaning.

What is the overall structure of the sentence, and how does it compare to English sentence structure?

The sentence follows a Subject – Verb – Predicate structure, similar to English. Il semaforo is the subject, è is the verb, and rosso is the predicate adjective describing the subject. This straightforward structure makes it easy to understand once you’re familiar with Italian word order.