Mia nonna sa cucire molto bene.

very

Breakdown of Mia nonna sa cucire molto bene.

• bene: well
• mia: my
• la nonna: the grandmother

Questions & Answers about Mia nonna sa cucire molto bene.

Why is it mia nonna and not la mia nonna?

In Italian, with many singular close family members, the definite article is often dropped before the possessive.

So you usually say:

• mia nonna = my grandmother
• mio padre = my father
• tua sorella = your sister

Instead of:

• la mia nonna
• il mio padre
• la tua sorella

A few important notes:

• This usually applies to singular family nouns.
• It often does not apply to plurals:
  • i miei nonni = my grandparents
• It also often does not apply when the family noun is modified:
  • la mia nonna italiana
  • la mia cara nonna
• Some forms like loro behave differently:
  • la loro nonna

So mia nonna is the normal, natural choice here.

What does sa mean here?

Sa is the third-person singular form of sapere.

In this sentence:

• mia nonna = my grandmother
• sa = knows how
• cucire = to sew

So sa cucire means knows how to sew or simply can sew.

This is a very common Italian pattern:

• so nuotare = I know how to swim
• sai guidare? = do you know how to drive?
• Maria sa cantare = Maria can sing / knows how to sing

Here, sapere + infinitive expresses having the skill or know-how to do something.