Learn Hardcore Italian: Il cantante prova la sua voce sotto il lampadario mentre l’orchestra accorda gli strumenti. - The singer rehearses his voice under the chandelier while the orchestra tunes the instruments.

Provare is a versatile verb meaning to test, to try, or to rehearse. Here, prova is the third person singular present and best translated as warms up or tests (his voice) in a musical context.

Why is la sua voce used instead of simply la voce?

Italian typically uses a possessive adjective to specify ownership of body parts or personal attributes. Voce is feminine, so it takes the feminine singular article la and the possessive sua. Omitting sua could be grammatically acceptable if context is clear, but including it is common.

Why does the sentence use il cantante rather than un cantante or just cantante?

Il indicates a specific singer (the one referred to).
Italian often uses the definite article before professions or roles, even in a general sense.
If you wanted to say a singer, you could use un cantante. Omitting the article entirely sounds unnatural.

Why is there an apostrophe in l’orchestra?

Because orchestra starts with a vowel, the feminine singular article la elides to l’. Thus la orchestra becomes l’orchestra.

What does accorda gli strumenti mean, and why gli instead of i?

Accordare means to tune, so accorda (third person singular) means it tunes. Strumenti is a masculine plural noun starting with s + consonant, which requires the plural article gli instead of i. Hence gli strumenti = the instruments.

Why is the verb after mentre in the indicative mood and not the subjunctive?

Mentre is a conjunction of time meaning while, indicating two simultaneous factual actions. It does not trigger the subjunctive, which is reserved for doubt, uncertainty, desire, or hypothetical scenarios.

Could I say Mentre l’orchestra accorda gli strumenti, il cantante prova la sua voce? Does word order matter?

Yes. Placing the mentre clause first and separating with a comma is perfectly grammatical:
Mentre l’orchestra accorda gli strumenti, il cantante prova la sua voce
The meaning remains the same, though starting with mentre highlights the timing of the actions.

Why is sotto followed by il in sotto il lampadario?

Sotto means under and is a preposition that requires a definite article when specifying a particular object. You say sotto il lampadario for under the chandelier. You would not combine sotto with another preposition like da.

Is cantante always masculine, and how do I know the gender?

Cantante ends in -e, so it can be masculine or feminine. The gender is indicated by the article or adjective agreement:

il cantante (masculine)
la cantante (feminine)
You’ll also see matching adjectives like un bravo cantante vs. una brava cantante.