Breakdown of Il solista intona la prima strofa nella tonalità giusta.
nella
in
giusto
right
primo
first
la strofa
the verse; stanza
Questions & Answers about Il solista intona la prima strofa nella tonalità giusta.
What does intona mean here, and what verb does it come from?
Intona comes from the verb intonare.
In this sentence, intonare means something like:
- to intone
- to start singing
- to strike up
- to begin in the correct pitch/key
With music, it often suggests that someone begins a melody or verse with the right pitch. So Il solista intona... means the soloist starts singing the first verse.
Also, intona is:
- 3rd person singular
- present tense
- so it means he/she intones or the soloist intones
Because il solista is singular, intona is singular too.
Why is it il solista and not just solista?
Italian often uses the definite article more regularly than English.
So:
- il solista = the soloist
In English, sometimes you can drop the in certain contexts, but in Italian the article is usually required before a singular countable noun like this, unless there is a special reason not to use it.
Here, il is the masculine singular definite article used before most consonants:
- il cantante
- il musicista
- il solista
Why is it la prima strofa? Why do both la and prima appear?