Questions & Answers about Guarda quanto è grande la casa.
What does guarda mean here, and what form is it?
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.
Why is there no subject pronoun like tu?
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!
What does quanto mean in this sentence?