La livella è sulla trave.

The spirit level is on the beam.

Breakdown of La livella è sulla trave.

• essere: to be
• sul: on
• la trave: the structural beam
• la livella: the spirit level

Questions & Answers about La livella è sulla trave.

Why is there la before livella?

Because livella is a feminine singular noun, so it takes the feminine singular definite article la.

• la livella = the level
• il livello would be a different noun/form, not the one used here

In Italian, nouns normally need an article much more often than in English.

Why is trave feminine if it ends in -e?

In Italian, nouns ending in -e can be either masculine or feminine. You usually have to learn the gender together with the noun.

So here:

• la trave = feminine
• singular article: la
• if needed, the plural is le travi

This is one of those cases where the ending alone does not tell you the gender.

What does sulla mean exactly?

Sulla means on the in this sentence.

It is a contraction of:

• su = on
• la = the (feminine singular)

So:

• su + la = sulla

This is very common in Italian. Prepositions often combine with articles.