A gennaio la donna compra un’agenda nuova.

With months, Italian very often uses a where English uses in:

• a gennaio = in January
• a marzo = in March

You may also sometimes see in gennaio, but a gennaio is very common and natural in everyday Italian.

In Italian, names of months are normally written with a lowercase letter:

• gennaio
• febbraio
• marzo

This is different from English, where January must be capitalized.

Italian usually needs an article before a common noun when it is the subject of the sentence.

So:

• la donna = the woman

Saying just donna here would sound incomplete or unnatural in standard Italian. Italian uses articles more often than English does.

Italian often leaves out subject pronouns because the verb ending already shows the person.

Here, though, the subject is not a pronoun but a full noun phrase:

• la donna compra

Since la donna is already there, adding lei would usually be unnecessary. Italian avoids repeating the subject unless there is special emphasis or contrast.

Compra is the third person singular present tense of comprare (to buy).

Conjugation:

• io compro = I buy
• tu compri = you buy
• lui/lei compra = he/she buys

Because the subject is la donna (the woman), Italian uses the lei form, so the verb is compra.

Not always. The Italian present tense can cover several ideas, depending on context, such as:

• a habitual action: buys
• a general present action: is buying
• sometimes even a near-future idea

In this sentence, without more context, compra is most naturally understood as buys.

Because the full feminine singular indefinite article is una, and before a vowel it usually drops the final a:

• una agenda → un’agenda

This is called elision.

So:

• una penna
• un’agenda

The apostrophe shows that a sound has been omitted.

Because agenda is a feminine noun.

In Italian:

• un is normally masculine singular
• una is feminine singular
• before a vowel, una becomes un’

So:

• un libro = a book
• una casa = a house
• un’amica = a female friend
• un’agenda = a diary/planner

That apostrophe helps show that this is really from una, not the masculine un.

Adjectives in Italian must agree with the noun in gender and number.

Agenda is feminine singular, so the adjective must also be feminine singular:

• agenda nuova

Compare:

• libro nuovo = new book
• agenda nuova = new diary/planner

So nuova matches agenda.

In Italian, many adjectives commonly come after the noun, and this is the most neutral order here:

• un’agenda nuova

If you say una nuova agenda, that is also correct, but the feeling can be slightly different. Very roughly:

• un’agenda nuova = an agenda that is new
• una nuova agenda = a new agenda, often with a bit more emphasis on new or on the idea of a replacement/addition

Both are possible, but the version in the sentence is perfectly normal.

Yes. Italian word order is fairly flexible, although some orders sound more natural than others depending on what you want to emphasize.

For example:

• A gennaio la donna compra un’agenda nuova.
• La donna compra un’agenda nuova a gennaio.

Both are grammatical. Starting with A gennaio puts the time expression first, so it gives a little more prominence to in January.

Gennaio is pronounced approximately jehn-NYAH-yo.

A useful point for English speakers: the gn in Italian is like the ny sound in canyon.

So:

• gennaio ≈ jehn-NYAH-yo

This gn sound also appears in words like:

• lasagna
• signore