Le pinne di Giulia sono corte, ma con la maschera nuota meglio.

Italian often uses the definite article where English might not.

• Le pinne = the fins
• Le is the feminine plural definite article.
• Pinne is a feminine plural noun.

In Italian, body items, clothing, and personal objects very often appear with the article, especially when the owner is made clear elsewhere, as in di Giulia.

Both are possible, but di Giulia is often clearer.

• le pinne di Giulia = Giulia’s fins / the fins of Giulia
• le sue pinne = her fins

The problem with sue is that it can sometimes be less clear who her refers to. Using di Giulia removes any ambiguity and is very natural in Italian.

Because pinne is feminine plural, the adjective must agree with it.

• singular feminine: corta
• plural feminine: corte
• singular masculine: corto
• plural masculine: corti

So:

• la pinna è corta
• le pinne sono corte

This is standard adjective agreement in Italian.

Here corte is a predicate adjective, not an adjective directly attached to the noun.

The structure is:

• Le pinne di Giulia = subject
• sono = are
• corte = adjective describing the subject

So it works like English Giulia’s fins are short. After forms of essere, adjectives normally go after the verb.

Italian usually drops subject pronouns when they are not needed.

• nuota already means he/she swims
• from the context, we understand that the subject is Giulia

So ma con la maschera nuota meglio naturally means but with the mask, she swims better.

You could say lei nuota meglio, but it would add emphasis, as if you were contrasting her with someone else.

Context and meaning make that clear.

Grammatically, nuota is singular, so it cannot refer to le pinne, which is plural. If the fins were the subject, the verb would have to be plural: nuotano.

So the sentence shifts from talking about Giulia’s fins to talking about Giulia herself, and Italian allows that without repeating the name or pronoun.

Literally, it means with the mask.

In context, it usually means something like:

• when she has the mask on
• using the mask
• wearing the mask

Italian often uses con in this very natural way to describe the equipment someone has or is using.

Italian often uses an article with nouns where English might not.

So con la maschera is the normal way to say with the mask. Depending on context, English might translate it more freely as with a mask or wearing her mask, but Italian still commonly uses the definite article.

Because meglio is the correct comparative form of bene.

• bene = well
• meglio = better

This works like:

• buono → migliore
• bene → meglio

So:

• nuota bene = she swims well
• nuota meglio = she swims better

Più bene is generally not standard Italian in this meaning.

Ma means but and creates a contrast between the two ideas:

• Le pinne di Giulia sono corte = Giulia’s fins are short
• ma con la maschera nuota meglio = but with the mask she swims better

So the sentence suggests a contrast such as: her fins may be short, but the mask helps her swim better.

Yes. Italian word order is fairly flexible.

These are all possible, depending on emphasis:

• ma con la maschera nuota meglio
• ma nuota meglio con la maschera

Putting con la maschera earlier gives it a little more focus, as if saying but when she has the mask on... or but with the mask...

Yes. Nuota is the third person singular present indicative of nuotare.

It can mean:

• she swims
• he swims

In this sentence, it means she swims, because the context is Giulia.

Yes, pinna is a feminine noun.

So its forms are:

• la pinna = the fin
• le pinne = the fins

That is why both the article and adjective are feminine plural here:

• le pinne
• corte