Il vagone del treno è vuoto.

to be

Breakdown of Il vagone del treno è vuoto.

• di: of
• il treno: the train
• vuoto: empty

Questions & Answers about Il vagone del treno è vuoto.

Why is the definite article il used before vagone?

Because vagone is a masculine singular noun beginning with a consonant (v). In Italian, the masculine singular definite article is il for most consonants. The article lo is reserved for masculine nouns starting with s + consonant, z, gn, ps, pn, x or y, while l’ is used before vowels.

What does del stand for in del treno?

Del is a contraction of di (of) + il (the). So del treno literally means of the train. Italian regularly fuses prepositions with definite articles:

• di + il = del
• di + la = della
• di + l’ = dell’

Why is the adjective vuoto not vuota?

Adjectives in Italian must agree in gender and number with the noun they modify. Vagone is masculine singular, so the adjective takes the masculine singular form vuoto. If you were describing a feminine noun (e.g. la carrozza), you would say vuota.

Why doesn’t vuoto agree with treno instead of vagone?