Breakdown of Il bambino corre verso la porta.
correre
to run
la porta
the door
il bambino
the child
verso
toward
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Questions & Answers about Il bambino corre verso la porta.
Why is the definite article il used before bambino?
In Italian, most nouns require an article. Il is the masculine singular definite article used before nouns beginning with a simple consonant. Il bambino literally means the child in a specific sense.
Could we use lo or l’ instead of il?
The article lo appears before masculine singular nouns that start with s+consonant (e.g., lo studente), z (e.g., lo zaino), ps, gn, etc.; l’ is the elided form before a vowel (e.g., l’amico). Since bambino starts with the consonant b, we use il.
Why is bambino masculine, and how do I say it for a girl?
Italian nouns have grammatical gender. Bambino is the masculine form for child; the feminine form is bambina. For a girl, you say la bambina corre verso la porta.
How is the verb correre conjugated in this sentence?
Correre is a second-conjugation -ere verb. Present indicative:
io corro (I run)
tu corri (you run)
lui/lei corre (he/she runs)
noi corriamo (we run)
voi correte (you all run)
loro corrono (they run)
So corre corresponds to he/she runs.
What does the preposition verso mean exactly?
Verso means towards, indicating movement in a certain direction without implying that you reach the endpoint.
Could I say Il bambino corre alla porta instead of verso la porta?
Yes. Il bambino corre alla porta means the child runs to the door, implying he arrives at it. Using verso la porta just indicates direction without guaranteeing arrival.
Can I change the word order for emphasis?
Yes. The neutral order is Subject–Verb–Prepositional phrase: Il bambino corre verso la porta. To emphasize the direction, you can front the phrase: Verso la porta corre il bambino.
Do I need a subject pronoun like lui before corre?
No. Italian verbs encode the subject in their endings, and you already have the noun il bambino. You wouldn’t say il bambino lui corre. If you omit the noun and use a pronoun instead, you simply say lui corre verso la porta.