Marta usa la grattugia per mettere il formaggio sulla pasta.

In Italian, the simple present is used very often where English might use either uses or is using.

So Marta usa la grattugia can mean:

• Marta uses the grater in a general sense, or
• Marta is using the grater in the current situation, depending on context

Italian does have a progressive form, such as Marta sta usando la grattugia, but it is not as necessary or as frequent as is using in English.

Italian usually uses the definite article much more often than English does.

So la grattugia literally means the grater, but in English we might naturally say a grater or just the grater, depending on context.

This is very normal in Italian with everyday objects:

• usa la forchetta = uses the fork / a fork
• apre la porta = opens the door
• lava i piatti = washes the dishes

The article does not always mean the object is already specifically known in the same strong way it does in English.

Per + infinitive is a very common Italian structure meaning:

• to
• in order to
• for the purpose of

So per mettere il formaggio sulla pasta means to put the cheese on the pasta or in order to put the cheese on the pasta.

This is the normal way to express purpose in Italian:

• Studio per imparare = I study to learn
• Vado al negozio per comprare il pane = I go to the store to buy bread

The sentence focuses on the purpose of using the grater: to put the cheese onto the pasta.

Even though a grater is involved, the final result being emphasized is that the cheese ends up on the pasta. So mettere works well.

A sentence with grattugiare would shift the emphasis slightly:

• Marta usa la grattugia per grattugiare il formaggio = Marta uses the grater to grate the cheese

That sounds more focused on the action of grating itself, while the original sentence focuses more on what she is doing with the cheese afterward.

Both are possible, but they mean slightly different things.

• il formaggio = the cheese / cheese as a general food item
• del formaggio = some cheese

In many contexts, Italian uses the definite article with food or substances where English would just say the noun without an article:

• Mangio il pane = I eat bread
• Compro il latte = I buy milk

So mettere il formaggio sulla pasta is perfectly natural.
If you said mettere del formaggio sulla pasta, you would be emphasizing some cheese as a quantity.

Sulla is a contraction of:

• su = on
• la = the

So:

• su + la = sulla

That is why sulla pasta means on the pasta.

Other similar contractions are:

• sul = su + il
• sullo = su + lo
• sui = su + i
• sugli = su + gli
• sulle = su + le

Because Italian normally requires an article in this kind of expression.

Pasta here is treated as a noun with a definite article, so you get la pasta, and after su that becomes sulla pasta.

In English, we often leave articles out in broader expressions, but Italian usually does not.

They are close, but not always identical.

• sulla pasta usually means on the pasta, often with the idea of contact
• sopra la pasta means above/on top of the pasta, and can sound a little more spatial

In this sentence, sulla pasta is the most natural choice because the cheese is being put directly onto the pasta.

This is a very normal Italian word order:

• subject: Marta
• verb: usa
• object: la grattugia
• purpose phrase: per mettere il formaggio sulla pasta

Italian word order is often similar to English in neutral statements. You could change the order for emphasis, but the original is the most straightforward and natural.

For example, Per mettere il formaggio sulla pasta, Marta usa la grattugia is also possible, but it gives more emphasis to the purpose.

Yes. Italian often drops the subject pronoun, and even a name can sometimes be omitted if the context makes it clear who is being talked about.

For example:

• Usa la grattugia per mettere il formaggio sulla pasta

This could still be understood as She uses the grater to put the cheese on the pasta if the context already tells us it is Marta.

Italian is a pro-drop language, so the verb ending often gives enough information.

Because formaggio is being treated as an uncountable substance, like cheese in English.

Italian often uses the singular for mass nouns:

• il formaggio = cheese
• lo zucchero = sugar
• il pane = bread

Even if the cheese ends up in many small bits, it is still grammatically one substance, so the singular is correct.

Yes, but that would be a different structure and would depend on context.

For example:

• Marta usa la grattugia per mettere il formaggio sulla pasta = full, clear version
• Marta usa la grattugia per metterlo sulla pasta = to put it on the pasta

Here lo replaces il formaggio.

Italian often uses pronouns once the noun is already known, but for a learner sentence, the full noun phrase is clearer and more natural pedagogically.

Yes.

• la grattugia = the grater
• grattugiare = to grate

They belong to the same word family. This is very common in Italian:

• forchetta and not from a verb in the same way, but
• aspirapolvere and aspirare
• stampante and stampare

So recognizing grattugia can help you remember grattugiare, and vice versa.