Il tempo è instabile.

to be

Breakdown of Il tempo è instabile.

• il tempo: the weather
• instabile: unstable

Questions & Answers about Il tempo è instabile.

What does tempo mean in this sentence?

Here tempo means weather, not time. Italian uses il tempo to talk about weather conditions (e.g. Il tempo è bello = “The weather is nice”).

Why is the article il used before tempo?

Il is the masculine singular definite article (“the”).
• Tempo is a masculine, singular noun.
• To say “the weather” you need il → il tempo.

Why is the verb è used here?

È is the third‐person singular present of essere (“to be”).
Since il tempo (“the weather”) is a third‐person singular subject, you use è (“is”).

Why does the adjective end in -e and not -o?

Adjectives ending in -e in Italian are the same for both masculine and feminine, but they do change for number:
• Singular: instabile
• Plural: instabili
Here, tempo is singular, so instabile stays in its singular form.