Il signore cammina lentamente in città.

to walk

Breakdown of Il signore cammina lentamente in città.

• in: in
• la città: the city
• lentamente: slowly
• il signore: the gentleman

Questions & Answers about Il signore cammina lentamente in città.

What does Il signore mean, and what connotations does it carry?

Il signore translates to "the gentleman" (or simply "the man" in some contexts). It is a respectful way to refer to an adult male and can imply courtesy or formality, much like addressing someone as "sir" in English.

What is the infinitive form of cammina, and what tense and person is it conjugated in?

The verb cammina comes from the infinitive camminare (meaning "to walk"). In this sentence, it is conjugated in the present indicative tense for the third person singular, agreeing with Il signore.

How is the adverb lentamente formed, and what role does it play in the sentence?

Lentamente is formed by taking the adjective lento (meaning "slow") and adding the suffix -mente—a common method in Italian to create adverbs (similar to adding -ly in English). In the sentence, it modifies the verb cammina by describing the manner in which the gentleman walks, namely, slowly.

Why does the phrase in città not include a definite article, such as nella città?

In Italian, certain expressions of location use the preposition in directly with the noun without an article. In città is a fixed expression meaning "in the city" or "in town", and omitting the article is both common and idiomatic. Using nella città would be grammatically acceptable in other contexts, but for general locational expressions like this one, the article is typically dropped.

What is the overall structure of the sentence Il signore cammina lentamente in città, and how does it compare to standard English sentence order?

The sentence follows a straightforward structure:

1. Subject: Il signore (the gentleman)
2. Verb: cammina (walks)
3. Manner adverb: lentamente (slowly)
4. Location phrase: in città (in the city)

This ordering—subject, verb, adverb, prepositional phrase—is similar to English and represents one of the common, comprehensible structures in Italian. While Italian allows for flexibility in word order, this arrangement is typical for a clear and direct statement.