Learn Hardcore Italian: Un lampo illumina il campanile e poi il cielo torna nuvoloso. - A flash lights the bell tower and then the sky turns cloudy again.

Lampo is the sudden flash of light you see in a thunderstorm—the visual “flash.” Fulmine is the lightning bolt or electrical discharge itself, often implying the strike or the thunderbolt. In English, you might say lampo = “flash of lightning,” fulmine = “lightning bolt.”

Why is illumina in the present tense? Wouldn’t the past tense make more sense?

Italian often uses the narrative present (also called the historic present) to describe past events in a vivid, immediate way. Instead of saying ha illuminato (“it illuminated” – passato prossimo), the writer uses illumina (“it illuminates”) so you feel the flash happening right now. It’s purely a stylistic choice.

Why do we say torna nuvoloso instead of diventa nuvoloso? Aren’t they both “become cloudy”?

Tornare means “to return” to a previous state; diventare simply means “to become.” By using torna nuvoloso, the sentence implies the sky was cloudy before the flash and then returns to being cloudy. If you said diventa nuvoloso, it would imply a first-time change, with no nuance of returning.

Why is the indefinite article un used with lampo? Couldn’t we say uno lampo?

In Italian, un is the masculine singular indefinite article used before most consonants and vowels (except z, s + consonant, gn, ps, etc.). Uno is only used before those special consonant clusters (e.g., uno studente, uno zio). Since lampo starts with a simple L, you use un lampo.

What exactly is a campanile? Is it just any tower?

A campanile is specifically a bell tower, typically attached to or standing beside a church. It’s the structure where the bells are hung and rung.

What does e poi mean together? Can you use just e or just poi?

E means “and,” poi means “then” or “afterward.” Used together, e poi literally translates to “and then,” linking two sequential actions. You could use just poi (“then”): Il lampo illumina il campanile, poi il cielo torna nuvoloso. Using e poi adds a slight pause or emphasis on the sequence.

What’s the difference between nuvoloso and coperto? Aren’t both “cloudy”?

Nuvoloso means “cloudy,” with plenty of clouds but not necessarily blocking out the sun completely—more like “partly to mostly cloudy.” Coperto means “overcast,” where the sky is fully covered by clouds and it’s generally darker. So you might say una giornata nuvolosa (a cloudy day) or una giornata coperta (an overcast day).

Why isn’t there another article before nuvoloso in il cielo torna nuvoloso?

In Italian, after a linking verb like tornare, you attach an adjective directly to the subject without an article: il cielo è nuvoloso, il cielo torna nuvoloso. You don’t say il cielo torna il nuvoloso. The article belongs only when the adjective is used as a noun or when you want to emphasize it: il nuvoloso (the cloudy one), which isn’t the case here.