Disegno un quadrato sulla lavagna.

I draw a square on the blackboard.

Breakdown of Disegno un quadrato sulla lavagna.

• io: I
• su: on
• disegnare: to draw
• la lavagna: the blackboard
• il quadrato: the square

Questions & Answers about Disegno un quadrato sulla lavagna.

What part of speech is disegno in this sentence and what does it mean?

Disegno is the first-person-singular present indicative form of the verb disegnare, meaning I draw. Although disegno can also be a noun ("a drawing"), here the presence of a direct object (un quadrato) and the verb ending -o tell you it’s a verb.

Why isn’t the subject pronoun io included before disegno?

Italian often drops subject pronouns because the verb ending already indicates who performs the action. The -o ending of disegno clearly marks the subject as io ("I"). You could say Io disegno un quadrato sulla lavagna for emphasis, but it’s not required.

What is un quadrato?

Un is the masculine singular indefinite article (“a”), and quadrato is a masculine noun meaning “square.” Together, un quadrato means a square.

Why do we use un and not uno before quadrato?

In Italian, uno is used before masculine nouns starting with s + consonant (e.g., uno studente), z (e.g., uno zaino), gn, ps, x or y. Since quadrato begins with q (a consonant that doesn’t trigger uno), you use un instead.

What does sulla represent and why is it written as one word?

Sulla is a contraction of the preposition su (“on”) + the feminine definite article la (“the”). In Italian, su + la merges into sulla to avoid saying su la separately. It literally means on the.

Why is it sulla lavagna and not sul lavagna?

Lavagna (“blackboard”) is a feminine noun. The masculine contraction su + il becomes sul, but for feminine su + la you get sulla. If it were a masculine noun (e.g., tavolo), you’d use sul tavolo.

Could you use a different preposition instead of su for "on the blackboard"?

Su is the normal preposition for “on” or “onto.” You might also hear sopra in some contexts (“above/on”), but su + article (→ sulla) is the most straightforward way to say “on the blackboard.”

Is the word order fixed, or can sulla lavagna come first?

Italian word order is flexible. You could say Sulla lavagna disegno un quadrato to emphasize the location. The neutral order is Disegno un quadrato sulla lavagna.

How do you pronounce the gn in disegno?

The digraph gn in Italian is pronounced like the “ny” in English “canyon” ([ɲ]). So disegno is pronounced roughly di-ZEH-nyo.

Could quadrato be acting as an adjective here?

Although quadrato can be an adjective meaning “square-shaped,” here it’s a noun because it’s preceded by the indefinite article un. If it were an adjective, it would modify another noun, e.g., un tavolo quadrato (“a square table”).