Learn Italian: Il libro non è nuovo, ma è molto bello. - The book is not new, but it is very beautiful.

Il libro non è nuovo, ma è molto bello.

The book is not new, but it is very beautiful.

Breakdown of Il libro non è nuovo, ma è molto bello.

Questions & Answers about Il libro non è nuovo, ma è molto bello.

The translation says "but". How does ma work in this sentence?

ma means "but" and is a coordinating conjunction. This means it connects two ideas that contrast with each other. Just like in English, it links the first part of the sentence (Il libro non è nuovo) with the balancing second part (è molto bello).

Where is the word for "it" in the second half of the sentence?

There isn't one! In Italian, you usually drop subject pronouns (like "it", "I", or "you") when it is obvious from the context. Since we just mentioned il libro, the second è (is) automatically implies "it is".

Why do nuovo and bello both end in -o?

In Italian, adjectives must match the noun they describe. Because il libro (the book) is a masculine, singular noun, the adjectives describing it—nuovo (new) and bello (beautiful/nice)—must also use the masculine singular ending -o.

Does molto also end in -o to match il libro?

No, that is just a coincidence! In this sentence, molto means "very", which acts as an adverb (a word that modifies an adjective). When molto means "very", its ending is frozen as -o and never changes, regardless of the noun in the sentence.