Anna è molto sensibile, basta un film triste e piange subito.

to be

Breakdown of Anna è molto sensibile, basta un film triste e piange subito.

• Anna: Anna
• molto: very
• e: and

Questions & Answers about Anna è molto sensibile, basta un film triste e piange subito.

What does basta un film triste mean, and how does basta function here?

basta comes from the verb bastare, meaning “to be enough.” In this impersonal construction, basta un film triste literally means “a sad film is enough”, which we translate as “all it takes is a sad movie.”

Why is there no le before basta? Shouldn't we say le basta un film triste?

You can say le basta un film triste—here le (to her) makes the indirect object explicit. Italian often drops the pronoun in impersonal expressions when the context is clear, so basta un film triste is perfectly natural.

Why is sensibile used, and does it mean the same as English sensible?

sensibile in Italian means “sensitive.” It’s a false friend: English sensible translates as sensato or ragionevole in Italian, not sensibile.

Why are è and piange both in the present tense?