Learn Hardcore Italian: Il profumo di arrosto porta i bambini in cucina. - The smell of roast brings the children into the kitchen.

di here simply links two nouns to mean “smell of roast” in a general sense. If you said del or dell’arrosto (di + il or di + l’), you’d be referring to “the smell of a specific/the roast,” making it more definite. Using just di arrosto emphasizes any roast aroma, not one particular dish.

What part of speech is arrosto in this sentence, and why isn’t there an article before it?

Here arrosto is a noun meaning “roast.” There’s no article because after di you don’t add another article unless you want to specify a particular roast (in which case you’d say del or dell’arrosto). So di arrosto = “of roast” in a general sense.

Why did the sentence use profumo instead of odore?

Both profumo and odore mean “smell,” but:

profumo implies a pleasant aroma (like perfume or good cooking).
odore is more neutral and can be unpleasant (e.g., odore di fogna, “smell of a sewer”).
Since we’re talking about a delicious roasting scent, profumo is the natural choice.

What is the subject of porta, and why is the verb singular?

The subject is il profumo di arrosto (the smell of roast), which is grammatically singular. Therefore the verb porta is in third-person singular. Even though it “brings” multiple children, the actor doing the “bringing” is one singular scent.

What tense and mood is porta, and why isn’t there a progressive form like “sta portando”?

Porta is the present indicative (simple present). Italian often uses the simple present for general truths or habitual actions. A progressive (“sta portando”) would suggest an action happening at this exact moment, which doesn’t fit a statement about what normally happens when roast is cooking.

Why is the direct object i bambini preceded by the definite article i?

In Italian, plural nouns almost always take an article:

i bambini = “the children.”
If you dropped the article (bambini), it would sound like a very poetic or headline‐style omission. Here we want a normal statement, so we use i.

Why is the preposition in used in in cucina, and not a cucina or alla cucina?

In cucina means “inside the kitchen.” Italian uses in for enclosed spaces. A cucina would be ungrammatical; alla cucina could mean “to the kitchen area” in a very formal sense, but Italians say in cucina to express “into/in the kitchen.”

Could you change the word order, for example placing in cucina at the beginning?

Yes, you can for emphasis:
• In cucina porta il profumo di arrosto i bambini. (This sounds poetic or marked.)
The neutral order is Subject–Verb–Object–Complement:
• Il profumo di arrosto porta i bambini in cucina.
Moving in cucina to the start shifts focus onto “in the kitchen.”