Il gommone giallo galleggia vicino al molo.

The yellow rubber boat is floating near the pier.

Breakdown of Il gommone giallo galleggia vicino al molo.

• vicino: near
• giallo: yellow
• il gommone: the rubber boat
• galleggiare: to float
• il molo: the pier

Questions & Answers about Il gommone giallo galleggia vicino al molo.

What does gommone mean?

Gommone is an inflatable boat or rubber dinghy. It comes from gomma (rubber) and refers to a light, air-filled vessel often used for leisure or rescue.

Why is il used before gommone?

Il is the masculine singular definite article in Italian, equivalent to the in English. Since gommone is a masculine singular noun, you need il to say the dinghy.

Why is the adjective giallo placed after the noun instead of before it?

In Italian most descriptive adjectives follow the noun to which they refer. Placing giallo after gommone is the neutral, standard word order for descriptive color adjectives:

• Il gommone giallo
  Putting giallo before would sound poetic or emphatic, e.g. il giallo gommone, which is unusual in everyday speech.

What does galleggia mean, and what grammatical form is it?

Galleggia is the third-person singular present indicative of galleggiare, meaning to float. So galleggia means (it) floats or (it) is floating.

Can you show the conjugation of galleggiare in the present tense?

Sure. Present indicative of galleggiare:

• io galleggio
• tu galleggi
• lui/lei galleggia
• noi galleggiamo
• voi galleggiate
• loro galleggiano

Why is it vicino al molo and not just vicino molo or vicino alla molo?

Vicino (near) in Italian takes the preposition a to show proximity: vicino a. When a meets the masculine singular definite article il, they contract to al. Hence:

• vicino + a + il molo → vicino al molo

What does molo mean?

Molo means pier, jetty, or dock—the platform extending out into the water where boats tie up.

How do you pronounce gommone, giallo, and galleggia?

• gommone: / gom-MO-neh / (double “m” is held; stress on the second syllable)
• giallo: / JAL-loh / (“gi” like English “j”, double “l”)
• galleggia: / gal-LED-jah / (“gli” sounds like “ly” + “j” at the end; stress on “led”)

How would you make the sentence plural, for example “the yellow dinghies float near the piers”?

You pluralize noun, adjective, verb, and article/preposition combinations:
I gommoni gialli galleggiano vicino ai moli.

• i (the, masc. pl.)
• gommoni (dinghies)
• gialli (yellow, masc. pl.)
• galleggiano (they float)
• vicino ai (near the, “a + i” for masc. pl.)
• moli (piers)