Il governo approva il piano.

Because Italian usually uses a definite article with singular countable nouns in sentences like this.

• il governo = the government
• il piano = the plan

Here, il is the masculine singular definite article used before most nouns beginning with a consonant.

Approva is the third-person singular present tense of approvare (to approve).

So:

• io approvo = I approve
• tu approvi = you approve
• lui/lei approva = he/she approves

Since il governo is singular, the verb is also singular: approva.

Because il governo is grammatically singular.

Even though government refers to a group of people, in Italian it is treated as a singular noun here:

• Il governo approva = The government approves

If the subject were plural, then you would use approvano:

• I governi approvano = The governments approve

Usually approva here is understood as approves or is approving, depending on context.

Italian present tense often covers both:

• a simple present idea: approves
• a current action idea: is approving

So without more context, Il governo approva il piano can naturally mean The government approves the plan.

This is the most neutral Italian word order:

subject + verb + object

• Il governo = subject
• approva = verb
• il piano = direct object

Italian can sometimes change word order for emphasis, but this sentence uses the standard, most straightforward structure.

Yes, but changing the order usually changes the emphasis, tone, or style.

For example:

• Il governo approva il piano. = neutral statement
• Il piano lo approva il governo. = emphasizes the government as the one approving it
• Approva il piano il governo. = possible, but less neutral and more stylistically marked

For a learner, the original order is the safest and most natural one to use.

Yes, piano can mean different things in Italian.

Here, il piano means the plan.

Italian piano can also mean:

• plan
• floor/storey
• level
• slow/soft in some contexts

The musical instrument is also piano in English, but in Italian the full word is usually pianoforte, though piano may appear informally in some contexts. In this sentence, the meaning is clearly plan.

Yes. Governo is a masculine singular noun, which is why it takes il:

• il governo

That also matches the verb in the singular:

• Il governo approva

The subject is il governo because it comes before the verb in this normal sentence pattern, and it is the thing that approves.

So:

• Il governo = the doer of the action
• approva = approves
• il piano = what is being approved

In other words, the government is approving the plan.

It is pronounced roughly ap-PRO-va.

A simple guide:

• ap as in up but with a clearer a
• PRO has the stress
• va sounds like vah

So the stress falls on the middle syllable: ap-PRO-va.