Learn Hardcore Italian: L'aria fresca del mattino entra dalla finestra e mi sveglia subito. - The fresh morning air enters through the window and wakes me up immediately.

Italian requires elision when the feminine singular article la meets a vowel. You drop the a and add an apostrophe, so la aria becomes l’aria.

Why is the adjective fresca placed after aria, and why isn’t it fresco?

Adjectives must agree in gender and number with the noun: aria is feminine singular, so the adjective is fresca. In Italian most descriptive adjectives follow the noun, hence aria fresca.

What does del mattino mean, and why can’t I say just di mattino here?

Del is a contraction of di + il (the masculine singular article). Del mattino literally means “of the morning.” You could say di mattina to mean “in the morning” adverbially, but del mattino is part of the noun phrase “fresh morning air.”

I’ve seen both mattino and mattina. Are they interchangeable?

Both words mean “morning,” but mattino is slightly more formal or literary. Mattina is more common in everyday speech. In fixed expressions you might find del mattino (as here) or di mattina, depending on context.

Why is the verb entra in the singular and not entrano?

The subject l’aria fresca is singular (“the fresh air”), so the verb must be third-person singular: entra (“it enters”).

Why is it dalla finestra instead of just da finestra?

Since finestra is a feminine singular noun, you need the article la. The preposition da + la contracts to dalla, giving “from the window.”

Could you use entra per la finestra instead of dalla finestra?

Yes, per la finestra (“through the window”) is grammatically correct. But dalla finestra (“from the window”) is more idiomatic when describing air entering a room.

What’s the difference between mi sveglia and mi sveglio?

Svegliarsi is a reflexive verb meaning “to wake oneself up” (mi sveglio = “I wake up”). Svegliare is transitive, meaning “to wake someone up.” Here mi sveglia means “it wakes me up.”

Why does the pronoun mi come before sveglia?

In Italian, object pronouns normally precede the conjugated verb. So mi (“me”) appears before sveglia in the present indicative.

What does subito mean, and can it go somewhere else in the sentence?

Subito means “immediately” or “right away.” It’s an adverb modifying sveglia. You could say subito mi sveglia for emphasis, but mi sveglia subito is the most natural word order.

Why is the present tense used here? Is it describing a habit?

Yes. In both English and Italian, the present indicative can express habitual actions or general truths. Here it means “fresh morning air always comes in and wakes me up.”