Oggi il cielo è nuvoloso.

to be

Breakdown of Oggi il cielo è nuvoloso.

• oggi: today
• il cielo: the sky
• nuvoloso: cloudy

Questions & Answers about Oggi il cielo è nuvoloso.

Why is there a definite article il before cielo? Can I say Oggi cielo è nuvoloso?

In Italian you almost always use a definite article with singular, countable nouns—even in general statements. il cielo (“the sky”) is required here.
– Saying Oggi cielo è nuvoloso sounds ungrammatical in everyday speech.
– In very terse weather bulletins you may hear just Nuvoloso or Oggi nuvoloso, but that’s a special, elliptical style.

Why does è have an accent? Could it be written without it?

The grave accent on è marks the third-person singular present of essere (“to be”), distinguishing it from the conjunction e (“and”).
– è = “he/she/it is”
– e = “and”
Omitting the accent would cause confusion with e, so it’s mandatory.

What part of speech is nuvoloso, and does it change form?

nuvoloso is an adjective derived from nuvola (“cloud”) + -oso (a suffix meaning “full of”). It agrees in gender and number with the noun it modifies:
– masculine singular: nuvoloso
– masculine plural: nuvolosi
– feminine singular: nuvolosa
– feminine plural: nuvolose

What’s the difference between nuvoloso and coperto when talking about the sky?

Both mean “cloudy,” but with a nuance:
– nuvoloso = there are visible clouds; the sky is partly to mostly cloudy.
– coperto = completely overcast; no clear patches at all.

Can I drop il cielo and just say Oggi è nuvoloso?

Yes, informally or in weather reports you might hear Oggi è nuvoloso or even just Nuvoloso. It’s an elliptical use of è where “it” refers to the weather/sky. In everyday conversation, though, specifying il cielo (or il tempo) is more natural.

Why is Oggi at the beginning of the sentence? Could I say Il cielo è nuvoloso oggi?

Italian word order is fairly flexible. Placing Oggi at the front emphasizes the time:
– Oggi il cielo è nuvoloso (Today, the sky is cloudy.)
– Il cielo è nuvoloso oggi (The sky is cloudy today.)
Both are correct; choose based on what you want to stress.

Why do we use the verb essere here instead of fare, since in English we say “it’s cloudy”?

In Italian, when describing the sky or general weather with an adjective, you use essere:
– Il cielo è nuvoloso
– Il tempo è bello
To talk about temperature you use fare:
– Fa freddo (It’s cold)
– Fa caldo (It’s hot)

How do I pronounce nuvoloso and where is the stress?

Pronunciation: nu-vo-LO-so
– Four syllables: nu-vo-lo-so
– Stress on the third syllable: LO
IPA phonetic: [nuvoˈlɔːso] (the o in “lo” is open, similar to the vowel in English “law”).