Il cielo si schiarisce lentamente dopo la pioggia.

The sky clears up slowly after the rain.

Breakdown of Il cielo si schiarisce lentamente dopo la pioggia.

• lentamente: slowly
• dopo: after
• la pioggia: the rain
• il cielo: the sky
• schiarirsi: to clear up

Questions & Answers about Il cielo si schiarisce lentamente dopo la pioggia.

Why does the sentence use si before schiarisce? Is it a true reflexive?

The si here marks a mediopassive (or intransitive) construction rather than a genuine reflexive. In Italian, adding si to some verbs indicates that the action happens “by itself.”

• il cielo si schiarisce = “the sky clears up”
  The sky isn’t acting on itself; it simply undergoes a change.

What would happen if I omitted si and said Il cielo schiarisce lentamente dopo la pioggia?

Without si, schiarisce becomes a transitive verb, expecting a direct object (e.g., “schiarisce i capelli”).

• Il cielo schiarisce… would sound incomplete or imply the sky lightens something else.
  To express “the sky clears up,” you need the si to turn it into an intransitive/mediopassive form.

What is the verb schiarire here and how is it different from chiarire?

schiarire means “to lighten/brighten.” It’s a third-conjugation (-ire) verb with an -isc- pattern in the present:
• io schiarisco
• tu schiarisci
• lui/lei schiarisce
• noi schiarimo
• voi schiarite
• loro schiariscono

By contrast, chiarire (without the “s-”) means “to clarify” or “make clear” in the sense of explaining something.

Why is the adverb lentamente placed after schiarisce? Can its position change?

Adverbs of manner in Italian normally follow the verb:

• si schiarisce lentamente

However, for emphasis you can place it before:

• Lentamente il cielo si schiarisce dopo la pioggia.

The meaning stays the same; you’re just highlighting “slowly.”

Why do we say dopo la pioggia with la? Can I say dopo pioggia or dopo una pioggia?

Because you’re referring to a specific occurrence of rain, Italian uses the definite article: dopo la pioggia (“after the rain”).

• dopo pioggia (no article) sounds odd unless “pioggia” is very generic or in a poetic/fixed expression.
• dopo una pioggia would mean “after a rain” in a general or hypothetical sense.

Can I change the word order, for example to put dopo la pioggia at the beginning?

Yes. Italian allows flexible word order for style or emphasis:

• Dopo la pioggia, il cielo si schiarisce lentamente.
  You can add a comma after the introductory phrase, though it’s optional.

If I want to stress the ongoing nature of the clearing, can I use a continuous form?

Italian can use stare + gerund to emphasize an action in progress:

• Il cielo si sta schiarendo lentamente dopo la pioggia.
  This corresponds to English “the sky is clearing up slowly.”

How do you pronounce schiarisce?

schiarisce = [skjaˈri.ʃe]

• sch before i = /sk/
• sc before e = /ʃ/ (the “sh” sound)
• Stress on the third-to-last syllable: schi-A-ri-sce