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Quelle nuvole sembrano più basse delle montagne.

Quelle nuvole sembrano più basse delle montagne.
Those clouds look lower than the mountains.
FromLesson 39inHardcore Italian

Breakdown of Quelle nuvole sembrano più basse delle montagne.

la montagna
the mountain
più
more
la nuvola
the cloud
di
than
basso
low
quelle
those
sembrare
to look

Questions & Answers about Quelle nuvole sembrano più basse delle montagne.

What does the Italian word quelle mean in this sentence?
Quelle is the feminine plural demonstrative pronoun meaning those. It’s used before a feminine plural noun, so quelle nuvole translates to those clouds (indicating clouds farther from the speaker).
What is sembrano, and which person/tense does it represent?
Sembrano is the third person plural present indicative of the verb sembrare (to seem). The ending -ano signals loro (they), so sembrano means they seem.
Why is the adjective basse in the feminine plural form?
Italian adjectives agree in gender and number with the nouns they modify. Since nuvole is feminine plural, basso becomes basse to match.
How is the comparative più basse delle montagne structured?

To compare two things in Italian you use:
• più + adjective + di + [thing compared]
Here:
• più basse = lower/more low
• di + le montagne contracts to delle montagne
Altogether: lower than the mountains.

Why is there an article in delle montagne? Isn’t di enough for comparison?

When the compared noun is introduced by a definite article, di merges with that article:
• di + le = delle
This is not the partitive delle (some of), but simply the contraction used in comparisons: più basse delle montagne = lower than the mountains.

Why use sembrare instead of simply essere here?
Sembrare conveys an appearance or impression (for example, sembrano più basse means they seem lower), whereas essere would state a straightforward fact (e.g., sono più basse means they are lower). Using sembrano highlights the speaker’s perception.
Could you use che instead of di in this comparison?
No. For most comparisons of inequality with adjectives, Italian requires di. The conjunction che appears in special contexts (for example after negatives as in non c’è niente che), but not in a basic more… than construction. You say più basse di (→ delle) rather than più basse che.
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