Learn Hardcore Italian: Il cane trova il suo giocattolo sul tavolo.

In Italian, definite articles (il, la, i, le) are usually required in front of singular, specific nouns. So il cane means “the dog” and il tavolo means “the table.” Unlike English, Italian does not drop the article in everyday statements about countable nouns.

What person and tense is trova, and what does it mean?

trova is the third-person singular present indicative of the verb trovare (“to find”). It literally means “he/she/it finds.” In this sentence, it refers to what il cane does right now: “the dog finds …”.

Why do we need il before suo giocattolo when in English we say “his toy” without the?

In Italian, possessive adjectives normally require a definite article. So you say il mio libro, la tua casa, il suo giocattolo, etc. Exceptions appear only with singular, unmodified family members (e.g., mia madre, tuo fratello).

Why is the possessive suo and not sua or suoi? How do possessive adjectives agree?

Italian possessive adjectives agree in gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural) with the noun they modify, not the possessor. Here giocattolo is a masculine singular noun, so we use suo (masculine singular). If it were giocattoli, we’d say i suoi giocattoli.

What is sul, and why isn’t it written su il?

sul is a contraction of the simple preposition su (“on”) and the definite article il (“the”). All Italian simple prepositions (di, a, da, in, su) can contract with articles:

di + il → del
a + il → al
da + il → dal
in + il → nel
su + il → sul

You also have sullo, sulla, sugli, sulle, etc., depending on the article form.

Can I move the locative phrase sul tavolo to a different position in the sentence?

Yes. Italian word order is relatively flexible for emphasis or style. The neutral order is Subject-Verb-Object-Locative: “Il cane trova il suo giocattolo sul tavolo.” To highlight the location, you can front it: “Sul tavolo il cane trova il suo giocattolo.” Or even: “Il cane sul tavolo trova il suo giocattolo,” though that’s less common.

Can I drop the subject il cane since trova already shows who is doing the action?

Yes. Italian is a pro-drop language, so the subject pronoun (or even the noun) can be omitted if context is clear: “Trova il suo giocattolo sul tavolo.” However, including il cane clarifies who you’re talking about and is often used if you introduce the subject for the first time or want to emphasize the doer.