L’aereo atterra al tramonto.

The plane lands at sunset.

Breakdown of L’aereo atterra al tramonto.

• il tramonto: the sunset
• al: at
• l’aereo: the plane
• atterrare: to land

Questions & Answers about L’aereo atterra al tramonto.

Why is there an apostrophe in L’aereo?

In Italian, when the definite article il (masculine singular) comes before a word starting with a vowel, it elides the i and adds an apostrophe. So il aereo becomes l’aereo.

What is the verb atterra? How is it formed?

Atterra is the third-person singular present indicative of atterrare (to land). Conjugation for atterrare in the present tense goes:
io atterro
tu atterri
lui/lei atterra
noi atterriamo
voi atterrate
loro atterrano

Here l’aereo atterra means “the plane lands.”

Why use the present tense here? Wouldn’t past tense be more natural?

Italian often uses the present tense to talk about scheduled or habitual events, much like English timetables (“The train leaves at 9”). In context, L’aereo atterra al tramonto can mean “The plane lands at sunset” as a regular or planned occurrence. If you want to narrate a past event, you’d say L’aereo è atterrato al tramonto.

What does al mean in al tramonto?

Al is the contraction of the preposition a + the article il. So al tramonto literally means “at the sunset,” which in English we render simply “at sunset.”

Why is there a definite article before tramonto? In English we just say “at sunset,” without “the.”

Italian normally uses the definite article with parts of the day: al mattino (in the morning), al pomeriggio (in the afternoon), al tramonto (at sunset). It’s a fixed idiom; you need the article to sound natural.

Why do we say al tramonto but di notte for “at night”?

These are idiomatic expressions. For most daytime periods you use a + article (al, alla), but for night Italian uses di notte without an article. Similarly, a mezzogiorno (at noon) has no article, while alla sera (in the evening) does. Learning these phrases case by case is the easiest way.

Could I change the word order to Al tramonto l’aereo atterra?

Yes. Italian is relatively flexible with adverbial phrases. Starting with Al tramonto places emphasis on “at sunset,” but the meaning remains the same.

Is atterra transitive or intransitive? Why isn’t there an object?

Atterrare is primarily intransitive when talking about a plane landing (no direct object). It can be transitive in rare contexts (e.g., “atterrare un aereo militare” to bring down a military plane), but here it simply describes the action of landing.