Breakdown of Il pittore sistemerà la sua tavolozza sul portico e dipingerà il cielo notturno.
su
on
e
and
il cielo
the sky
la sua
his
il pittore
the painter
dipingere
to paint
la tavolozza
the palette
il portico
the porch
sistemare
to set
notturno
nocturnal
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Questions & Answers about Il pittore sistemerà la sua tavolozza sul portico e dipingerà il cielo notturno.
What tense is sistemerà, and how is it formed from the infinitive sistemare?
sistemerà is the third-person singular of the futuro semplice (simple future) of sistemare (“to arrange” or “to set up”). For –are verbs, you drop –are to get the stem (sistem-), then add the future endings (–erò, –erai, –erà, etc.). Thus sistemer + à = sistemerà (“he/she/it will arrange”).
Do we need the article la before sua in la sua tavolozza, and why?
Yes. In Italian you generally place a definite article before possessive adjectives (e.g. la mia casa, il tuo libro, la sua tavolozza). The only common exception is with unmodified, singular family members (e.g. mia sorella, tuo padre), but not here.
Why is the possessive sua used instead of suo in la sua tavolozza?
Possessive adjectives in Italian agree with the gender and number of the noun they modify, not the possessor. Tavolozza is feminine singular, so the correct form is sua (feminine singular), not suo (masculine singular).
What does sul mean, and how is it formed?
Sul is the contraction of su + il, meaning on the (masculine singular). So sul portico literally means on the porch.
Why is the adjective notturno placed after cielo, and what does cielo notturno mean?
In Italian, descriptive adjectives normally follow the noun they modify. Therefore cielo (sky) comes before notturno (nocturnal/night). Cielo notturno literally means “nocturnal sky,” i.e. night sky.
Why are both sistemerà and dipingerà in the future tense and linked by e?
The sentence describes two sequential actions that the painter will perform. In Italian, when you list future actions by the same subject, you typically put each verb in the future tense and connect them with e (“and”).
Why is there a definite article before pittore? English often omits it with professions.
Italian normally requires a definite article before a noun used as the subject—even professions. Hence il pittore means “the painter.” English sometimes drops the article in generic statements (“Painters work…”), but Italian does not.
What does dipingerà mean, and why is dipingere used instead of pitturare?
dipingerà is the third-person singular future of dipingere, meaning “he/she will paint” (an artwork). Italian uses dipingere for painting pictures; pitturare applies to painting walls or buildings (house-painting), not fine art.