La clessidra segna il tempo.

In standard Italian, singular count nouns usually need an article when they are the subject of a sentence. So la clessidra is the normal way to say the hourglass.

Saying just clessidra segna il tempo would sound incomplete or unnatural in ordinary Italian.

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

A useful clue is that many Italian nouns ending in -a are feminine, though not all of them. Here you simply learn it as la clessidra.

Segna is the third-person singular present indicative of the verb segnare.

It matches the subject la clessidra, which is singular:

• io segno = I mark
• tu segni = you mark
• lui / lei segna = he / she / it marks

So La clessidra segna il tempo literally has the structure The hourglass marks the time.

Here segnare means something like to mark, to indicate, or to measure out.

In this sentence, the idea is that the hourglass shows or marks the passing of time. Italian often uses segnare for clocks, watches, and similar things that indicate time.

Italian often uses the definite article where English may or may not use one.

Here il tempo is the direct object of the verb, and segnare il tempo is a natural expression. So even if English might sometimes say just time, Italian normally says il tempo in this structure.

Because il tempo is the direct object of segna.

The verb segnare can take an object directly:

• segnare l’ora = to show the time / hour
• segnare il tempo = to mark time

So no extra word like di or a is needed here.

La clessidra segna il tempo is the most neutral and standard word order: subject + verb + object.

Italian can change word order for emphasis, but that would usually change the tone or focus. For a basic statement, this version is the most natural one.

A helpful rough guide is:

• la clessidra ≈ lah kless-SEE-drah
• segna ≈ SEH-nya
• il tempo ≈ eel TEM-poh

A few key points:

• clessidra is stressed on -sì-: clessìdra
• gn in segna sounds like the ny sound in canyon
• tempo is stressed on the first syllable: témpo

In this sentence, the present tense is best understood as a general truth or habitual statement, so marks is the most natural interpretation.

Italian present tense often covers both simple present and present progressive meanings, depending on context. Here it is not about an action happening right now in a vivid way; it is a general statement about what an hourglass does.

No. Although tempo can sometimes mean weather in Italian, here it clearly means time.

That is because of the context and the phrase segnare il tempo, which is about indicating or measuring time, not weather.