Learn Italian: È uno schermo rotto? - Is it a broken screen?

È uno schermo rotto?

Is it a broken screen?

Breakdown of È uno schermo rotto?

a / an (masculine special)

lo schermo

the screen

Questions & Answers about È uno schermo rotto?

Why use uno instead of un for "a"?

In Italian, the masculine word for "a" or "an" is usually un. However, because the next word (schermo) starts with an "s" followed by a consonant, you must use uno. This rule exists to make the words easier to pronounce together!

Why is the word order schermo rotto instead of rotto schermo?

In English, we put the describing word before the thing it describes ("broken screen"). In Italian, most descriptive adjectives come directly after the noun. So, the sentence translates word-for-word as "is it a screen broken?".

Where is the word for "it" in this sentence?

Italian usually drops subject pronouns like "it", "he", or "she" because the verb itself gives enough information. The word È means "is", but it acts as the full phrase "is it" here since it is a question.

Would rotto change if it described a different word?

Yes! Adjectives must match the gender and number of the noun they describe. Because schermo is a masculine singular word, the adjective takes the masculine singular ending -o (rotto). If you were describing a feminine singular word like sedia (chair), it would change to rotta.