Il vento è debole.

The wind is weak.

Breakdown of Il vento è debole.

• essere: to be
• il vento: the wind
• debole: weak

Questions & Answers about Il vento è debole.

What does il mean in il vento è debole?

Il is the masculine singular definite article in Italian, equivalent to the in English. It agrees with vento, which is a masculine singular noun.

Why is vento masculine?

Italian nouns have a grammatical gender (masculine or feminine). Most nouns ending in -o are masculine. Since vento ends in -o, it’s treated as masculine. That’s why you use il (not la) and say vento (not venta).

What’s the difference between e and è?

• e (without an accent) means and.
• è (with an accent) is the third-person singular of the verb essere (to be), meaning is.
  In il vento è debole, you need è to say is.

Why does the adjective debole come after the verb è?

In Italian, when you describe something using essere (to be), the adjective follows the verb. That’s called a predicate adjective. So you say il vento è debole (“the wind is weak”) rather than il vento debole è.