Learn Hardcore Italian: L'auto funziona bene.

It means "The car works well." Here, L'auto is a contracted form of la auto (short for automobile), funziona is the third-person singular present form of the verb funzionare meaning "to work" or "to function," and bene is an adverb meaning "well."

Why is the article written as L' instead of La before auto?

In Italian, when a feminine singular noun begins with a vowel, the definite article la is elided to l' for euphonic reasons. Since auto starts with a vowel, la auto becomes l'auto, making the phrase smoother and easier to pronounce.

What is the origin of the word auto and what is its gender?

Auto is a shortened, informal version of automobile. In Italian, automobile is a feminine noun, which is why it takes the feminine article la (elided to l' before the vowel).

From which verb is funziona derived, and what does its form indicate?

Funziona comes from the verb funzionare, which means "to work" or "to function." The form funziona is the third-person singular present tense, which agrees with the singular subject l'auto.

What role does bene play in this sentence?

Bene is an adverb modifying the verb funziona. It tells us how the car works, indicating that it functions well.

How does the structure of this Italian sentence compare to typical English sentence structure?

The structure is quite similar. Both Italian and English use a Subject-Verb-Adverb order in this case—L'auto (subject) funziona (verb) bene (adverb) mirrors the English "The car works well." The main difference is the use of elision in Italian articles to maintain smooth pronunciation.