Quando la contadina apre il recinto, la capra corre nel pascolo.

Because Italian often uses the present tense for actions that are habitual, general, or part of a typical sequence.

So Quando la contadina apre il recinto, la capra corre nel pascolo can mean something like:

• When the farmer opens the enclosure, the goat runs into the pasture
• or Whenever the farmer opens the enclosure, the goat runs into the pasture

In English, you also often use the present in this kind of sentence: When she opens..., the goat runs...

Apre = she opens
Corre = it/she runs

Both are third person singular present forms.

Because Italian uses the definite article much more often than English.

Here:

• la contadina = the female farmer / the peasant woman
• la capra = the goat

In English, you might sometimes leave out the in a general statement, but in Italian the article is usually required with specific countable nouns like these.

Also, la is used because both contadina and capra are feminine singular nouns.

Contadina is the feminine form of contadino.

It can mean:

• female farmer
• peasant woman
• countrywoman

The exact English translation depends on context. In a simple learning sentence like this, farmer is often the most natural translation.

So:

• il contadino = the male farmer
• la contadina = the female farmer

Because aprire is the infinitive form, meaning to open.
In the sentence, the verb has to be conjugated to match the subject la contadina.

So:

• aprire = to open
• io apro = I open
• tu apri = you open
• lui/lei apre = he/she opens

Since la contadina is she, you use apre.

For the same reason as apre: correre is the infinitive, meaning to run, but the sentence needs a conjugated form.

Conjugation:

• correre = to run
• io corro = I run
• tu corri = you run
• lui/lei corre = he/she/it runs

Since the subject is la capra, the verb is corre.

Recinto means an enclosed area, pen, enclosure, or fenced space.

In this sentence, il recinto is probably the place where the goat is being kept before it runs out.

So depending on context, you could translate it as:

• the enclosure
• the pen
• the fenced area

It comes from the idea of something surrounded or enclosed.

Because nel is a contraction of:

• in + il = nel

Since pascolo is a masculine singular noun, and it has the definite article il, the combination becomes nel.

So:

• il pascolo = the pasture
• nel pascolo = in the pasture / into the pasture

Italian very often combines prepositions with articles like this:

• a + il = al
• di + il = del
• in + il = nel
• su + il = sul

These two expressions can mean different things.

• nel pascolo = in the pasture / into the pasture
  This focuses on the physical place
• al pascolo = often means out grazing or at pasture
  This is a more idiomatic expression

So in your sentence, corre nel pascolo emphasizes movement into that space: the goat runs into the pasture.

By contrast:

• La capra è al pascolo = The goat is out grazing / at pasture

Both are possible in Italian, but they do not always mean exactly the same thing.

Because the sentence begins with a subordinate clause introduced by quando:

• Quando la contadina apre il recinto = When the farmer opens the enclosure

Then comes the main clause:

• la capra corre nel pascolo = the goat runs into the pasture

When the subordinate clause comes first, Italian often uses a comma before the main clause, just as English often does:

• When the farmer opens the enclosure, the goat runs into the pasture.

If you reversed the order, the comma would often be less necessary:

• La capra corre nel pascolo quando la contadina apre il recinto.

Yes, Italian word order is somewhat flexible, though the original order is very natural.

Original:

• Quando la contadina apre il recinto, la capra corre nel pascolo.

Possible variation:

• La capra corre nel pascolo quando la contadina apre il recinto.

Both are grammatical. The difference is mostly about focus:

• starting with Quando... highlights the time/condition
• starting with La capra... highlights the goat’s action

The original sentence is a very normal, neutral way to say it.

Italian often does omit subject pronouns like lei or essa, because the verb ending already shows the person. But in this sentence, the actual nouns are important, so they are kept.

For example, you would not normally want to reduce this sentence to something like:

• Quando apre il recinto, corre nel pascolo.

That would be unclear, because we would not know immediately who opens and who runs.

So although Italian is a pro-drop language, explicit nouns are still used when needed for clarity.

Often yes, but not always in exactly the same way.

In sentences like this, quando can mean:

• when
• whenever

So this sentence may describe:

• a single event: When the farmer opens the enclosure, the goat runs into the pasture
• a repeated pattern: Whenever the farmer opens the enclosure, the goat runs into the pasture

Italian leaves that open, and the broader context usually tells you which meaning is intended.

Because of the sentence structure and meaning.

The sentence has two clauses:

1. Quando la contadina apre il recinto
   Here, la contadina is the subject of apre

2. la capra corre nel pascolo
   Here, la capra is the subject of corre

So each verb has its own subject:

• la contadina → apre
• la capra → corre

That is a very common pattern in Italian complex sentences.