La pioggia ritarda il concerto.

The rain delays the concert.

Breakdown of La pioggia ritarda il concerto.

• la pioggia: the rain
• il concerto: the concert
• ritardare: to delay

Questions & Answers about La pioggia ritarda il concerto.

Why is there a definite article la before pioggia?

In Italian, common nouns almost always require a definite or indefinite article. Pioggia is a feminine singular noun (“rain” as a thing), so it takes the definite article la when we refer to it in general or in a specific context. You couldn’t say Pioggia ritarda il concerto in normal speech—la pioggia is the correct subject form.

What form is ritarda, and why is it used here?

Ritarda is the third person singular present indicative of the verb ritardare (“to delay”). The subject la pioggia is singular, so the verb matches: “(The rain) delays…” This is the straightforward present‐tense statement of fact.

Why is there a definite article il before concerto?

Just like pioggia, concerto is a common noun (masculine singular), so it normally takes a definite or indefinite article in Italian. Here we’re talking about a specific concert, so we use the definite article il.

Do we need any preposition between ritarda and il concerto?

No. Ritardare is a transitive verb, which means it takes a direct object without a preposition. The structure is simply ritardare + direct object. In this sentence, il concerto is that object.

Could we drop the articles and just say ?