Learn Italian: Io sono un uomo e tu sei una donna. - I am a man and you are a woman.

Io sono un uomo e tu sei una donna.

I am a man and you are a woman.

Breakdown of Io sono un uomo e tu sei una donna.

Questions & Answers about Io sono un uomo e tu sei una donna.

I heard that Italians usually drop words like 'I' and 'you'. Why are io and tu used in this sentence?

It's true! Italian is a 'pro-drop' language, meaning you usually leave out subject pronouns because the verb itself tells you who is doing the action. However, we keep io (I) and tu (you) here to create a strong contrast: I am this, and you are that.

How do I know whether to use sono or sei?

Both are forms of the verb essere (to be). You use sono when talking about yourself (io sono means 'I am'), and you use sei when talking to someone else informally (tu sei means 'you are').

Why does the word for 'a' change from un to una?

In Italian, all nouns have a gender, and the words attached to them must match. Uomo (man) is masculine, so it uses the masculine word for 'a', which is un. Donna (woman) is feminine, so it uses the feminine form, una.

Is there an easy way to tell that uomo is masculine and donna is feminine?