Il muratore lavora in cantiere.

The mason works at the construction site.

Breakdown of Il muratore lavora in cantiere.

• in: in
• lavorare: to work
• il cantiere: the construction site
• il muratore: the mason

Questions & Answers about Il muratore lavora in cantiere.

Why is there a definite article il before muratore?

In Italian you normally use the definite article with a singular noun denoting a profession when you’re talking about a specific person or the profession in general. Here il muratore means “the builder” (a particular builder or builders as a category). You cannot say just muratore in a sentence like this.

How do you conjugate lavorare to get lavora?

Lavorare is a regular -are verb. In the present indicative the endings are:
io lavoro
tu lavori
lui/lei lavora
noi lavoriamo
voi lavorate
loro lavorano
So lavora is the third-person singular (“he/she/it works”).

What does cantiere mean, and why is there no article before it?

Cantiere means “construction site.” The phrase in cantiere is an idiomatic expression meaning “on (the) site,” and here Italian drops the article as part of a fixed locution (similar to a scuola, in ospedale). If you want to specify a particular site, you could say nel cantiere (in the construction site), but the general “on‐site” sense uses in cantiere.

What’s the difference between in cantiere and al cantiere?

In cantiere means “on‐site,” focusing on the work zone itself (no article needed). Al cantiere literally “to/at the construction site” would imply movement or a more general location (“I go to the site”), but it’s less common when you want to say someone is actively working there.

How would you say this sentence in the plural?

For “The builders work on sites,” you have two main options:
1) General: I muratori lavorano in cantiere. (Builders work on‐site in general.)
2) Specific plural sites: I muratori lavorano nei cantieri. (“The builders work in the construction sites.”)

How do you change the sentence if the worker is female?

You feminize both article and noun: La muratrice lavora in cantiere. (“The (female) builder works on site.”)

Is muratore the only word for a building worker?

No. You can also say operaio edile (construction worker), costruttore (builder, often more general), or impresario edile (building contractor). Muratore specifically refers to someone who lays bricks/masonry.