Learn Italian: Le isole sono belle e tranquille. - The islands are beautiful and quiet.

Le isole sono belle e tranquille.

The islands are beautiful and quiet.

Breakdown of Le isole sono belle e tranquille.

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"?