Cammino nel canyon con attenzione.

I walk in the canyon carefully.

Breakdown of Cammino nel canyon con attenzione.

• io: I
• camminare: to walk
• con: with
• nel: in
• l'attenzione: the attention
• il canyon: the canyon

Questions & Answers about Cammino nel canyon con attenzione.

What does cammino mean and what verb does it come from?

Cammino is the first person singular present indicative of the verb camminare. It means “I walk.”

Why is there a double “m” in cammino? Isn’t it just “camino”?

The infinitive camminare has a double “m,” so all its conjugated forms keep it. Camino with one “m” actually means “fireplace” or “chimney” in Italian.

Why do we say nel canyon instead of in il canyon?

Italian contracts in + il into nel. So in il canyon becomes nel canyon.

Is canyon really an Italian word? How do we treat it?

Yes, canyon is an English loanword used in Italian. We: • Keep its original spelling.
• Treat it as a masculine noun: il canyon.
• Form its plural regularly as i canyon.

Why use con attenzione instead of the adverb attentamente?

Both express “carefully,” but: • con attenzione (“with attention”) focuses on the manner of walking.
• attentamente is the adverb form.
In everyday speech, con attenzione is very common.

Can I reorder the sentence or start with Con attenzione?

Yes. Word order in Italian is fairly flexible: • Con attenzione cammino nel canyon. (emphasis on attention)
• Cammino nel canyon con attenzione. (neutral order)

How do Italians pronounce canyon?

It adapts to Italian phonetics: • “ny” becomes the palatal nasal [ɲ], like gn in gnocchi.
• Pronounced roughly [ˈkaɲon], with stress on the first syllable.

Why use the simple present cammino instead of a continuous form?

Italian generally uses the simple present for ongoing actions.
• Cammino can mean “I walk” or “I am walking.”
• To emphasize the action in progress, you could say sto camminando.