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L'amico è intelligente.

L'amico è intelligente.
The friend is intelligent.
From Lesson 5:Yes/No questions·Italian

Breakdown of L'amico è intelligente.

essere
to be
l'amico
the friend
intelligente
intelligent

Questions & Answers about L'amico è intelligente.

How would I turn this statement into a yes/no question?
In Italian, you don't change the word order to ask a yes/no question like we do in English ("Is the friend intelligent?"). You just write the exact same words with a question mark: L'amico è intelligente? When speaking, you simply raise the pitch of your voice at the end of the sentence.
Why is it l'amico instead of il amico?
When a singular noun starts with a vowel like amico, the Italian word for "the" drops its own vowel and adds an apostrophe so the two words flow together smoothly. This process is called elision.
Since amico is masculine, why doesn't the adjective end in -o (intelligento)?
Not all Italian adjectives use the -o and -a endings. There is a whole category of adjectives that naturally end in -e in the singular, like intelligente. These don't change based on gender, so they are used for both masculine and feminine nouns.
What is the purpose of the accent mark on è?
The accent mark tells you that this is the verb è (is), rather than the conjunction e (and). It is a very small mark, but forgetting it would change your sentence to "The friend and intelligent"!

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