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La nonna innaffia l’orto la sera.

La nonna innaffia l’orto la sera.
Grandma waters the vegetable garden in the evening.
FromLesson 48inHardcore Italian

Questions & Answers about La nonna innaffia l’orto la sera.

Why is the verb spelled innaffia with a double n?
Because the infinitive is innaffiare, which inherently has two “n”s in its root. In Italian, single vs. double consonants can change meaning or simply be part of a word’s correct spelling.
Who is performing the action in this sentence?
The subject is la nonna (“grandma”). She’s the one doing the watering.
Why do we say l’orto instead of il orto?
Italian uses the apostrophized article l’ before masculine singular nouns that begin with a vowel. So il orto becomes l’orto by dropping the i and adding an apostrophe.
Why is there no preposition before la sera?
Time expressions that name parts of the day (morning, afternoon, evening) typically don’t require a preposition. You can directly place la sera as a temporal adverbial.
Why is the definite article used with sera?
It’s standard in Italian to pair parts of the day with the definite article: la mattina, il pomeriggio, la sera, etc. It’s not optional—it’s the normal pattern.
Can I replace la sera with di sera?
Yes. Di sera also means “in the evening.” The difference is stylistic: di sera is a prepositional phrase, while la sera uses an article. Both are frequently used.
How flexible is the placement of la sera in the sentence?

You can move it to the front for emphasis:
La sera, la nonna innaffia l’orto.
The meaning stays the same; you’re just stressing when she waters.

What tense and person is innaffia?
It’s the present indicative, third-person singular form of innaffiare (“to water”).
How would you turn the sentence into a yes/no question?

Simply use rising intonation:
La nonna innaffia l’orto la sera?
You can add vero? at the end for extra confirmation: …la sera, vero?

How do you say “Grandma waters the garden every evening”?
La nonna innaffia l’orto ogni sera.
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