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Le isole sono belle e tranquille.

Le isole sono belle e tranquille.
The islands are beautiful and quiet.
From Lesson 15:Adjective endings (-o, -a, -i, -e)·Italian

Breakdown of Le isole sono belle e tranquille.

essere
to be
e
and
bello
beautiful
l'isola
the island (f)
tranquillo
quiet

Questions & Answers about Le isole sono belle e tranquille.

Why do the adjectives belle and tranquille end in -e?
They are describing le isole (the islands), which is a feminine plural noun. These adjectives come from the dictionary forms bello (beautiful) and tranquillo (quiet). Because they belong to the regular -o adjective group, they change to -a for feminine singular, -i for masculine plural, and -e for feminine plural.
Wait, isole ends in -e. How do I know if it's masculine or feminine?
You can tell by the singular form and the article! The singular word for "island" is isola, which is feminine. In Italian, regular feminine nouns that end in -a change their ending to -e in the plural. This is also why we use the feminine plural word for "the" (le).
If I were describing something masculine plural, how would these adjectives change?
If you were describing a masculine plural noun, like i villaggi (the villages), the adjectives would take the masculine plural -i ending. You would say i villaggi sono belli e tranquilli.
Why does sono mean "are" here? Doesn't it mean "I am"?
The verb essere (to be) actually uses the exact same word—sono—for both "I am" and "they are". You can always tell which one is meant by the context. Since the subject here is le isole (the islands), sono has to mean "they are".

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