Learn Italian: Le scarpe nuove sono belle e pulite. - The new shoes are beautiful and clean.

Le scarpe nuove sono belle e pulite.

The new shoes are beautiful and clean.

Breakdown of Le scarpe nuove sono belle e pulite.

Questions & Answers about Le scarpe nuove sono belle e pulite.

Why do we use Le instead of I for "the"?

Scarpe (shoes) is the plural of the feminine noun scarpa (shoe). In Italian, most feminine nouns that end in -a change to -e in the plural. Because it is a feminine plural noun, we must use the feminine plural word for "the", which is le.

Why do all the descriptive words (nuove, belle, pulite) end in -e?

In Italian, adjectives have to match the noun they describe in both gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural). Since scarpe is feminine and plural, all the adjectives describing it change their singular -a ending to the feminine plural -e ending.

Why is it scarpe nuove instead of nuove scarpe?

Unlike English, where we say "new shoes", Italian usually puts descriptive adjectives right after the noun they describe. So, we say scarpe nuove (literally "shoes new").

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

The verb sono is a bit tricky because it is used for both "I am" and "they are". Since the subject of this sentence is Le scarpe (the shoes), sono acts as "they are". You can always tell which meaning is correct based on who or what the sentence is about.