Breakdown of Il sentiero in giardino è ampio.
essere
to be
in
in
il giardino
the garden
il sentiero
the path
ampio
wide
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Questions & Answers about Il sentiero in giardino è ampio.
Why is it Il sentiero and not Lo sentiero?
In Italian, the masculine singular definite article is il before most consonants. You only use lo before words that start with s + consonant (like lo studente) or with z, ps, gn, x, etc. Since sentiero begins with s + e (a vowel), it takes il.
Why is there no article before giardino? Shouldn’t it be nel giardino or al giardino?
When you express location with in, Italian often drops the article for a general place: in giardino simply means “in the garden.”
- nel giardino (in + il) is also correct but sounds more specific (“in the garden” where you both know which garden).
- al giardino (a + il) usually implies movement toward the garden (“to the garden”) rather than being inside it.
Why is the adjective ampio placed after the verb rather than before sentiero?
Adjectives that describe the subject via essere (to be) are called predicative adjectives and normally follow the verb. So you say Il sentiero è ampio. If you put ampio directly next to the noun as an attributive adjective, it still follows the noun: un sentiero ampio (a wide path).
Why do we use ampio instead of grande here?
Both adjectives can mean “big,” but ampio emphasizes width or spaciousness. Grande is more general, covering size in any dimension (length, height, volume) or even importance. By choosing ampio, you highlight that the path is specifically wide and roomy.
Does the adjective ampio agree in gender and number with sentiero?
Yes. Sentiero is masculine singular, so the matching form is ampio. If the noun were feminine singular you’d use ampia, and for plurals you’d use ampi (masc.) or ampie (fem.).
Could we rephrase the sentence as C’è un sentiero ampio in giardino instead of Il sentiero in giardino è ampio?
Absolutely. C’è un sentiero ampio in giardino means “There is a wide path in the garden.” It uses c’è (“there is”) plus the indefinite article un. The structure changes but the basic idea remains the same.