Guarda quanto è grande la casa.

Guarda is the imperative (command) form of guardare for tu: guarda! = look!

So in this sentence, the speaker is telling someone directly to look at something.

A few related forms:

• guarda! = look! (to one person, informal)
• guardi! = look! (to one person, formal)
• guardate! = look! (to more than one person)

In everyday speech, guarda can also sometimes mean something like look in English when introducing a remark.

Italian often drops subject pronouns when they are not needed, because the verb ending already gives the subject away.

Here, guarda already tells you the command is directed to tu. So tu guarda would usually sound unnecessary unless you wanted extra emphasis.

This is very common in Italian:

• Parlo = I speak
• Vai? = Are you going?
• Guarda! = Look!

Here quanto means something like how much or how in the sense of degree: it introduces the idea of to what extent something is big.

So quanto è grande is the pattern used to express how big it is.

This use of quanto is common before adjectives:

• quanto è bello = how beautiful it is
• quanto è difficile = how difficult it is
• quanto è alto = how tall it is

So in this sentence, quanto is not asking how much money or how many. It is expressing degree.

Italian normally uses the verb essere in this structure.

So the pattern is:

quanto + essere + adjective + noun

Examples:

• Guarda quanto è alta la montagna.
• Non sai quanto è difficile questo esercizio.

English sometimes allows a structure like how big the house is, where the verb comes later, but Italian typically keeps è right there: quanto è grande la casa.

È is the verb is from essere, and it is written with a grave accent to distinguish it from e, which means and.

So:

• è = is
• e = and

This is an important spelling difference in Italian.

Grande is the adjective meaning big / large.

In the singular, grande has the same form for both masculine and feminine nouns:

• il libro è grande
• la casa è grande

In the plural, it changes to:

• grandi

So:

• la casa è grande
• le case sono grandi

That is why it stays grande with la casa, even though casa is feminine.

Italian uses the definite article more often than English does. Here la casa means the house, and the article is completely normal and expected.

Italian usually does not drop the article in this kind of sentence:

• La macchina è veloce.
• Il film è lungo.
• La casa è grande.

So la casa is simply the standard way to say the house.

Italian commonly places the adjective phrase before the noun in this kind of exclamatory or embedded structure.

So quanto è grande la casa sounds natural and idiomatic.

While quanto la casa è grande might be understood, it is not the usual way to say it.

This word order is especially common after verbs like:

• guarda
• vedi
• non sai
• immagina

For example:

• Guarda quanto è bello il mare.
• Non sai quanto è difficile il lavoro.

No. Even though quanto can appear in questions, here the sentence is not really asking for information. It is more like an exclamation or an invitation to notice something.

The tone is basically:

• Look how big the house is!

So grammatically it is not a normal information question like:

• Quanto costa la casa? = How much does the house cost?

Instead, it expresses surprise, admiration, or emphasis.

Yes, you could, but guarda and vedi are not always identical in tone.

• guarda = look; direct someone’s attention
• vedi = see; notice; realize

So:

• Guarda quanto è grande la casa sounds like Look at how big the house is
• Vedi quanto è grande la casa sounds more like See how big the house is / Do you see how big the house is

Both are possible, but guarda is often the more natural choice when you want someone to physically look at something.

Yes, but that would mean something slightly different in feel.

• la casa è grande = the house is big
• la grande casa = the big house

In your sentence, grande is a predicate adjective, linked to the noun by è:

• la casa è grande

If you say la grande casa, then grande is directly modifying the noun inside the noun phrase.

So both are possible Italian, but they are different structures.

Yes, very common.

A very useful pattern is:

Guarda quanto è + adjective + noun

Examples:

• Guarda quanto è alto quel palazzo.
• Guarda quanto è bella questa piazza.
• Guarda quanto è fredda l’acqua.

You can also use the same structure with other verbs:

• Non sai quanto è difficile.
• Hai visto quanto è cambiata la città?
• È incredibile quanto è veloce.

So this sentence is a very natural example of a common Italian way to express how + adjective.