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Il cancello del palazzo resta aperto fino alle dieci di sera.

Il cancello del palazzo resta aperto fino alle dieci di sera.
The building’s gate stays open until ten in the evening.
FromLesson 33inHardcore Italian

Breakdown of Il cancello del palazzo resta aperto fino alle dieci di sera.

aperto
open
di
of
la sera
the evening
fino a
until
restare
to stay
dieci
ten
il palazzo
the building
il cancello
the gate

Questions & Answers about Il cancello del palazzo resta aperto fino alle dieci di sera.

What does cancello mean in this sentence?
Cancello means gate – the large door or barrier (often metal) that closes off the entrance to a building or property.
Why is il used before cancello?
Italian normally uses definite articles before singular nouns. Here il + cancello literally gives the gate, whereas in English we might simply say gate in a general description.
Why is it del palazzo instead of di il palazzo?
Del is the contraction of di + il. In Italian you always contract those two words, so di il palazzo becomes del palazzo (meaning of the building or of the palace).
What does resta mean here, and can I use rimane instead?
Resta is the third-person singular present of restare, meaning to remain or to stay. It emphasizes that the gate continues in a certain state. You can indeed say Il cancello del palazzo rimane aperto fino alle dieci di sera – rimanere and restare are nearly synonymous here, though restare is very common in everyday speech.
Could we substitute essere and say Il cancello è aperto fino alle dieci di sera?
Yes. Il cancello è aperto fino alle dieci di sera is perfectly correct. Using essere simply states its condition at that time, while restare highlights the continuity of that condition up to ten o’clock.
What part of speech is aperto, and why is it placed after resta?
Aperto is the past participle of aprire, but here it functions as an adjective meaning open. It follows the linking verb resta because in Italian the adjective that describes the subject’s state typically comes after verbs like essere or restare.
Why do we say fino alle dieci instead of fino a le dieci or just fino a dieci?
After fino you normally use a to express “up to,” and Italian requires the definite article with clock times. So a + le dieci contracts to alle dieci. Omitting the article (fino a dieci) would sound unnatural when you refer to a specific hour.
Why do we add di sera after dieci? Can’t we just say alle dieci?
You can say alle dieci, but without di sera it’s ambiguous: it could be ten in the morning or evening. Adding di sera specifies 10 PM.
What’s the difference between sera and notte in Italian time expressions?
Sera covers the period from late afternoon until the onset of night (roughly 5 PM to bedtime). Notte refers to the hours after dark, especially late at night and past midnight. So dieci di sera clearly means 10 PM, whereas you wouldn’t normally say dieci di notte for that time.
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