Il telefono vibra sul tavolo.

The phone vibrates on the table.

Breakdown of Il telefono vibra sul tavolo.

• su: on
• il tavolo: the table
• il telefono: the phone
• vibrare: to vibrate

Questions & Answers about Il telefono vibra sul tavolo.

Why is il used before telefono?

In Italian, most singular nouns require a definite article.

• Il is the masculine singular definite article (equivalent to English the).
• Unlike English, which can drop the article in statements like “Children play outside,” Italian almost always keeps it in front of nouns.

Why is the verb vibra in the third-person singular form?

The verb ending must agree with the subject.

• Il telefono is a third-person singular subject.
• Verbs ending in -are take -a for third-person singular in the present simple (e.g. vibra).
• If the subject were plural (e.g. i telefoni), the form would be vibrano.

Why does Italian use the simple present vibra instead of a continuous tense like English “is vibrating”?

Italian often employs the simple present for both habitual and ongoing actions.

• To stress that something is happening right now, you can use the progressive construction:
  • Il telefono sta vibrando sul tavolo (literally “the phone is vibrating on the table”).
• However, the simple present vibra is perfectly natural to say “the phone vibrates” or “the phone is vibrating.”

What’s the difference between vibrare and squillare?

They are two distinct verbs describing different actions of a phone:

• vibrare = to vibrate or buzz (often when the phone is on silent).
• squillare = to ring (when the phone uses its ringtone).

What does sul stand for in sul tavolo?

Sul is a mandatory contraction of the preposition su (on) + the definite article il (the).

• su
  • il = sul
• Similarly:
  • su + lo = sullo
  • su + la = sulla
  • su + i = sui
  • su + gli = sugli
  • su + le = sulle

Can I say su il tavolo instead of sul tavolo?

No. In standard Italian you must contract the preposition with the article.

• All combinations of a, da, di, in, su with definite articles are contracted (e.g. dal, dalla, nell’, sulla).

Why is there no subject pronoun (like lui or esso) before vibra?

Italian is a pro-drop language: the verb ending already indicates the person and number.

• Adding lui or esso would be redundant and sound odd.
• The ending -a tells us it’s third-person singular without an explicit pronoun.

Can I rearrange the sentence to Sul tavolo vibra il telefono?

Yes. Italian word order is fairly flexible.

• Fronting sul tavolo places emphasis on the location (“It’s on the table that the phone vibrates”).
• The neutral order remains Il telefono vibra sul tavolo, but both are correct.

Is telefono masculine or feminine, and how do I recognize it?

Telefono is masculine.

• Most Italian nouns ending in -o are masculine (e.g. libro, amico, ragazzo).
• The article il also signals that it’s masculine singular.