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La mela non è rossa, ma è buona.

La mela non è rossa, ma è buona.
The apple is not red, but it is good.
From Lesson 6:Coordinating conjunctions (e, ma, o)·Italian

Breakdown of La mela non è rossa, ma è buona.

essere
to be
rosso
red
ma
but
la mela
the apple
non
not
buono
good

Questions & Answers about La mela non è rossa, ma è buona.

Can I use ma exactly like the English word "but"?
Yes! ma connects two contrasting ideas, just like "but" does in English. Here, it links the negative fact (non è rossa) with the positive one (è buona).
Why is there no Italian word for "it" in the second half of the sentence?
In Italian, you don't need to use subject pronouns (like he, she, or it) when it is obvious what you are talking about. Since we are already talking about the apple, we can drop the subject and just say è buona (is good).
Why do both adjectives end in "-a" (rossa, buona)?
Because they describe la mela (the apple), which is a feminine singular noun. In Italian, adjectives change their endings to match the noun they describe, so the default forms rosso and buono change to rossa and buona.
Why does non come before è?
To make a sentence negative in Italian, you simply put non directly in front of the verb. So, "is not" becomes non è.

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