Il tenore intona la strofa e il basso intona il ritornello.

Intona is the third-person singular present indicative form of intonare.

So:

• io intono = I intone / I start singing
• tu intoni = you intone
• lui/lei intona = he/she intones

In this sentence, both subjects are singular:

• il tenore
• il basso

So intona is the correct form for both.

Italian often repeats the verb when there are two coordinated clauses, especially when it makes the sentence clearer and more balanced:

• Il tenore intona la strofa e il basso intona il ritornello.

You could sometimes omit the second verb in similar sentences if the meaning is obvious, but repeating it sounds very natural here and avoids any ambiguity.

It also gives the sentence a neat parallel structure:

• il tenore intona...
• il basso intona...

In Italian, articles are used much more often than in English. Here, il tenore and il basso mean the tenor and the bass.

Italian normally uses the definite article with nouns like this when referring to specific people or roles in a scene or performance.

So:

• il tenore = the tenor
• il basso = the bass

English sometimes drops articles in certain contexts, but Italian usually keeps them.

They are names of vocal types:

• tenore = tenor
• basso = bass

Here they refer to the singers, not just the voice ranges in the abstract.

A learner should also know that basso can mean other things in other contexts, such as low or bass, but in this sentence it clearly means the bass singer.

In song terminology:

• strofa = verse
• ritornello = chorus / refrain

So the sentence contrasts two different parts of a song:

• the tenor sings the verse
• the bass sings the chorus/refrain

A useful note:

• ritornello can sometimes be closer to refrain
• in many learning contexts, it is translated as chorus

Not always. Although intone is the closest formal-looking English cognate, intonare in musical contexts often means something like:

• to strike up
• to begin singing
• to sing/launch into

So in a sentence like this, intona may sound more natural in English as sings or begins the verse/chorus, depending on the translation style.

In other words, the Italian verb may feel more ordinary and musical than the somewhat formal English verb to intone.

This sentence follows a very straightforward subject + verb + object pattern:

• Il tenore = subject
• intona = verb
• la strofa = object

Then the same structure is repeated:

• il basso = subject
• intona = verb
• il ritornello = object

Italian can be more flexible with word order than English, but in simple declarative sentences like this, the standard order is very common.

The normal Italian word for and is e.

Sometimes you may see ed before a word beginning with e to avoid a clash of sounds, for example:

• ed è

But in modern Italian, ed is used more selectively than many learners expect. In this sentence, e il basso is perfectly normal.

So:

• e il basso = standard and natural

Because the two nouns have different grammatical genders:

• strofa is feminine singular → la strofa
• ritornello is masculine singular → il ritornello

This is something learners need to memorize with the noun:

• la strofa
• il ritornello

The article changes to match the gender and number of the noun.

You can tell from the structure:

• il basso

Here basso is being used as a noun, meaning the bass.

If it were an adjective, it would usually describe another noun:

• una voce bassa = a low voice
• un suono basso = a low sound

Since basso appears with the article il and stands alone as the subject of the clause, it is functioning as a noun here.

Yes. Depending on context, ritornello can mean:

• a refrain
• a recurring musical phrase
• the chorus of a song

So the exact English choice depends on the musical situation. In beginner-level contexts, chorus is often the easiest equivalent, but refrain can sometimes be more precise.

The plural forms are:

• il tenore → i tenori
• il basso → i bassi
• la strofa → le strofe
• il ritornello → i ritornelli

This is useful if you want to build similar sentences, for example:

• I tenori intonano le strofe.
• I bassi intonano i ritornelli.

A learner-friendly pronunciation guide would be roughly:

eel teh-NO-reh in-TO-na la STRO-fa eh eel BASS-so in-TO-na eel ree-tor-NEL-lo

A few points:

• tenore has stress on -no-
• intona has stress on -to-
• strofa has stress on stro-
• ritornello has stress on -nel-
• basso has a clear double ss, so the s sound is held a bit longer than in a single s

Yes, depending on the nuance you want. Possible alternatives include:

• cantare = to sing
• eseguire = to perform
• attaccare = to start/come in with, in some musical contexts

For example:

• Il tenore canta la strofa e il basso canta il ritornello.

That would be simpler and very clear. But intonare gives a slightly more specifically musical sense, like starting up or launching into the part.