Learn Hardcore Italian: La lezione viene cancellata se la scuola è chiusa. - The lesson is cancelled if the school is closed.

Italian often uses the periphrastic passive (venire + past participle) to emphasize the action itself or to announce scheduled changes. La lezione viene cancellata (“the lesson is canceled”) focuses on the event of cancellation.

La lezione è cancellata would sound more like a resultant state (“the lesson happens to be canceled”) rather than a planned or habitual action.
An active form (e.g. qualcuno cancella la lezione) would require specifying an agent (“someone cancels the lesson”), which we usually omit in announcements.

Why is the past participle cancellata in the feminine form?

In Italian passives the past participle agrees with the subject in gender and number. Since lezione is a feminine singular noun, its participle is cancellata (not cancellato, which is masculine).

Could we use the subjunctive in the clause introduced by se, like se la scuola sia chiusa?

No. Real or factual conditions introduced by se take the indicative. You use se la scuola è chiusa when the condition is possible or habitual. The subjunctive isn’t used here. (For hypothetical or contrary-to-fact conditions you’d use a different pattern, e.g. Se la scuola fosse chiusa, la lezione non verrebbe tenuta.)

Why is the present indicative used in both clauses instead of a future tense or another mood?

This is a general rule or habitual action (“whenever the school is closed…”), so Italian uses the present indicative in both the protasi (if-clause) and apodosi (main clause). It’s called a zero or real conditional. If you talk about a specific future lesson you could say La lezione verrà cancellata or La lezione sarà cancellata, but for recurring or general statements the present is preferred.

Why is the definite article la used before scuola? In English you can say “if school is closed.”

Italian nouns almost always require an article when they function as subjects or objects. You can’t say se scuola è chiusa; you must say se la scuola è chiusa. (The only common exception is set phrases like andare a scuola, but here the article is mandatory.)

Could we replace se with quando in this sentence?

Yes. Se (“if”) expresses a possible condition; quando (“when/whenever”) assumes the event will happen at some point.

La lezione viene cancellata se la scuola è chiusa = “The lesson is canceled if the school is closed” (it might or might not happen).
La lezione viene cancellata quando la scuola è chiusa = “The lesson is canceled whenever the school is closed” (it definitely happens each time).

What kind of conditional structure is this in Italian?

It’s a real or factual conditional—periodo ipotetico della realtà (also called zero/first conditional). Both clauses use the present indicative because the statement describes a general truth or habitual outcome.

Can we use annullata instead of cancellata?

Both verbs can mean “to cancel,” but annullare often has a more formal or legal nuance (e.g. annullare un contratto). Cancellare is more common for everyday events like lessons. You can say la lezione viene annullata, but cancellata is the more idiomatic choice here.

Could we rephrase the sentence with an impersonal si, like si cancella la lezione?

Yes, an impersonal passive is possible: Si cancella la lezione se la scuola è chiusa. However, it’s less focused on la lezione as grammatical subject. If you want to keep the lesson as the subject, the venire-passive (viene cancellata) is clearer. You could also generalize in the plural: Le lezioni si cancellano se la scuola è chiusa.