Metto le mele sulla bilancia e leggo bene l’etichetta.

Because Italian often leaves out subject pronouns when the verb ending already makes the subject clear.

• metto = I put / I place
• leggo = I read

So io is not necessary here. Italian uses io mainly for emphasis, contrast, or clarity.

• Metto le mele... = normal, natural
• Io metto le mele... = I put the apples..., with extra emphasis

Metto is the 1st person singular present tense of mettere.

The verb mettere means to put, to place, or sometimes to set.

Present tense:

• io metto
• tu metti
• lui/lei mette
• noi mettiamo
• voi mettete
• loro mettono

So in the sentence, metto means I put / I am putting.

Because mela is a feminine singular noun, and its plural is mele. The plural definite article for feminine nouns is le.

• la mela = the apple
• le mele = the apples

So le mele is simply the correct way to say the apples.

Sulla is a contraction of:

• su = on
• la = the

So:

• su + la = sulla

This is very common in Italian. These combined forms are called preposition + article contractions.

Examples:

• sul tavolo = on the table
• sulla sedia = on the chair
• sull’etichetta = on the label

Here, bilancia is feminine singular, so su + la bilancia becomes sulla bilancia.

Here bilancia means scale or weighing scale.

Depending on context, bilancia can refer to:

• a kitchen scale
• a shop scale
• a weighing device in general

So in this sentence it is the object on which the apples are placed to be weighed.

Leggo is the 1st person singular present tense of leggere (to read).

Conjugation:

• io leggo
• tu leggi
• lui/lei legge
• noi leggiamo
• voi leggete
• loro leggono

It looks different from the infinitive because Italian verbs change their endings when conjugated. Also, the gg sound helps preserve the correct pronunciation.

So:

• leggere = to read
• leggo = I read / I am reading

Bene is an adverb, and here it modifies the verb leggo.

So leggo bene means:

• I read well
• or, depending on context, I read carefully / properly

Italian uses bene because it describes how the action is done. An adjective would describe a noun, not a verb.

Compare:

• un buon libro = a good book
• leggo bene = I read well

Because the full article would be la etichetta, but Italian normally shortens la before a vowel. This is called elision.

So:

• la + etichetta becomes l’etichetta

This happens very often with singular articles before vowels:

• l’amica = the friend
• l’isola = the island
• l’etichetta = the label

Italian uses definite articles more often than English does. In many everyday sentences, Italian naturally says the apples, the label, the scale, even where English might sometimes be less explicit depending on context.

So this structure is completely normal:

• le mele
• la/sulla bilancia
• l’etichetta

The articles help make the sentence sound natural and complete in Italian.

Yes. E is the basic Italian word for and.

In writing, it is just e.
Do not confuse it with è with an accent:

• e = and
• è = is

So in this sentence:

• metto le mele sulla bilancia e leggo bene l’etichetta means two actions linked together: I put... and I read...

Sometimes yes, but leggo bene l’etichetta is a very natural order.

Typical position:

• leggo bene l’etichetta

Other positions may be possible in certain contexts, but they can sound less neutral or shift the emphasis. For a learner, the safest pattern is:

• verb + bene + object

Examples:

• parlo bene l’italiano is not natural, because with languages you usually say parlo bene italiano or more naturally parlo bene l’italiano only in special contexts
• leggo bene l’etichetta is straightforward and natural

So in this sentence, keeping bene after the verb is a good model.

A simple pronunciation guide is:

MET-to le ME-le SUL-la bi-LAN-cha e LEG-go BE-ne le-TI-ket-ta

A few useful points:

• tt in metto is pronounced clearly, with a doubled consonant
• gl in leggo is a hard g sound here
• ci / ce would be soft, but che in etichetta is a hard k sound
• sulla has doubled ll
• l’etichetta links smoothly because of the elision

A more IPA-style version would be roughly:

/ˈmetto le ˈmele ˈsulla biˈlantʃa e ˈledʒɡo ˈbɛne letiˈketta/

For most learners, the main things to notice are the doubled consonants and the hard k sound in etichetta.