Learn Hardcore Italian: Questo cancello di legno è chiuso.

Di legno means “made of wood.” In Italian, di is used to indicate the material something is made of (a material complement). You would not say in legno in this context because in usually introduces location (e.g., in Italia) or a container/medium (in acqua, “in water”), not the substance of an object.

Is di legno functioning like an adjective?

No, di legno is a prepositional phrase, not an adjective. It’s called a complemento di materia (material complement). While English often turns materials into adjectives (“wooden”), Italian keeps them as di + noun.

Why don’t we say questo un cancello or questo il cancello instead of just questo cancello?

Questo is a demonstrative adjective that directly modifies cancello, so you do not need another article. In Italian you cannot stack two determiners. You either say il cancello (“the gate”) or questo cancello (“this gate”), but not questo il cancello. And questo un cancello would mix a demonstrative with the indefinite article, which is ungrammatical.

What kind of word is questo and how does it agree with cancello?

Questo is a demonstrative adjective. It must agree in gender and number with the noun it modifies. Since cancello is masculine singular, you use questo (masc. sing.). If it were feminine plural, you would use queste.

Why is è chiuso used here—could it be a passive or an adjective?

Here chiuso functions as an adjective describing the state of the gate (“closed”). È chiuso means “it is [in the state of being] closed.” It is not the passive voice of chiudere (“to close”); rather, it’s simply essere + adjective. A true passive would be è stato chiuso (“it was closed [by someone]”).

How do the words agree in gender and number?

Questo (masc. sing.) matches cancello (masc. sing.).
Di legno is invariable because it’s a phrase (no agreement).
Chiuso is an adjective and agrees as masc. sing. with cancello.
If the gate were feminine (e.g., porta), you would say questa porta di legno è chiusa.

How do you pronounce cancello and chiuso, and where is the stress?

cancello: /kan-ˈtʃɛl-lo/ (stress on the second syllable, “TCHÈL”).
chiuso: /ˈkju-so/ or /ˈkiu-zo/ (stress on the first syllable, “KIU-zo”).
Remember that c before e or i is pronounced /tʃ/ (as in “church”).

What is the difference between e and è, and why is the accent important here?

e (without accent) means “and.”
è (with grave accent) is the third-person singular of essere, “is.”
The accent distinguishes them: è = “is,” whereas e = “and.” Without the accent you’d change the meaning entirely.