Breakdown of Gli scienziati studiano la nostra galassia per capire l’origine delle stelle.
di
of
la nostra
our
studiare
to study
per
to
capire
to understand
lo scienziato
the scientist
la galassia
the galaxy
l'origine
the origin
la stella
the star
Elon.io is an online learning platform
We have an entire course teaching Italian grammar and vocabulary.
Questions & Answers about Gli scienziati studiano la nostra galassia per capire l’origine delle stelle.
Why do we say gli scienziati instead of i scienziati?
Italian has two plural masculine definite articles: i and gli. You use gli before words that begin with a vowel or with certain consonant clusters (s + consonant, z, gn, ps, pn, x, y). Since scienziati starts with s+consonant, the correct article is gli.
Why does scienziati end in -i?
Most masculine nouns in Italian form the plural with -i. The singular scienziato becomes scienziati in the plural. If you were talking about a group composed exclusively of female scientists, you would say scienziate.
Why is there an article before nostra galassia? Could we just say nostra galassia?
In Italian, possessive adjectives (like mio, tuo, nostro) almost always go with a definite article: il, la, i, or le. So you say la nostra galassia. The one exception is with singular family members (e.g., mia madre, tuo padre), but you still need the article for non-family nouns like galassia.
Why is nostra and not nostro?
Possessive adjectives agree in gender and number with the noun they modify. Galassia is a feminine singular noun, so you must use the feminine singular form nostra rather than the masculine nostro.
What does per capire mean and why is capire an infinitive here?
Per + infinitive expresses purpose (“in order to”). Per capire literally means “to understand” or “in order to understand.” You always use the infinitive form of the verb after per when indicating intention or goal.
Why do we write l’origine with an apostrophe?
The feminine singular article la contracts to l’ when placed before a word starting with a vowel. Origine starts with o, so la origine becomes l’origine to avoid two vowels clashing.
Why is delle used before stelle?
Delle is the contraction of the preposition di + the feminine plural article le. It means “of the.” So l’origine delle stelle = “the origin of the stars.”
Why is stelle plural here?
Because the sentence talks about the origin of all the stars in our galaxy, plural. The singular would be stella, but we need stelle to refer to more than one star.
What form is studiano, and why?
Studiano is the third-person plural present indicative of studiare (“to study”). Since gli scienziati = “they” (plural), you use studiano (they study) rather than studio, studia, etc.
Could we drop the article and say Scienziati studiano la nostra galassia…?
Not normally. In Italian, you usually keep the definite article before professions or categories when speaking in general. Gli scienziati studiano… means “scientists study…,” while Scienziati studiano… sounds like a headline fragment or is grammatically incomplete in everyday speech.