Learn Italian: I gatti sono neri.

I gatti sono neri.

The cats are black.

Breakdown of I gatti sono neri.

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Questions & Answers about I gatti sono neri.

Why is the word for "the" i here instead of il?

Since gatti (cats) is a masculine plural noun, the singular article il (the) changes to the plural article i. You use i before most masculine plural words that start with a regular consonant.

How do we know gatti means "cats" and not just one cat?

In Italian, regular masculine nouns end in -o in the singular and change to -i in the plural. So, the singular gatto (cat) becomes the plural gatti (cats).

Doesn't sono mean "I am"? Why is it used here?

The verb essere (to be) actually uses the exact same word, sono, for both "I am" and "they are". Here, because we are talking about "the cats" (they), sono means "are".

Why does the word for black (neri) also end in -i?

In Italian, describing words (adjectives) must match the noun they describe in both gender and number. Because gatti is masculine and plural, the basic adjective nero (black) changes its ending to -i to become neri.