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Questions & Answers about La madre è alta?
How do I know this is a question if the words are in the same order as a regular statement?
In Italian, you don't need to swap the verb and the subject to make a yes/no question like you do in English (changing "The mother is" to "Is the mother"). You just use the exact same word order as a normal sentence, but raise the pitch of your voice at the end when speaking, or use a question mark when writing.
Why is the word for tall "alta" instead of "alto"?
Describing words (adjectives) in Italian must match the gender of the noun they describe. Because madre (mother) is a feminine noun, the basic masculine adjective alto changes its ending to an -a to become the feminine alta.
Why does "è" have an accent mark on it?
The accent mark shows that this is the verb è meaning "is" (from the verb essere, to be). Without the accent mark, the word e means "and". It's a very important spelling difference to remember!