Learn Italian: Qui c'è un tavolo di legno. - There is a wooden table here.

Qui c'è un tavolo di legno.

There is a wooden table here.

Breakdown of Qui c'è un tavolo di legno.

Questions & Answers about Qui c'è un tavolo di legno.

Why does it say di legno instead of using an adjective for "wooden"?

In Italian, you don't usually use an adjective to describe what an object is made of. Instead, you use the preposition di (of) followed by the material. So, instead of a "wooden table", Italians say a "table of wood" (un tavolo di legno).

I remember è means "is". Why do we use c'è here?

C'è specifically means "there is" (stating that something exists somewhere). It is formed by combining ci (there) and è (is). If you only used è, the sentence would be missing a word because Italian requires c'è to express "there is".

The English translation puts "here" at the end of the sentence. Does qui have to go at the beginning?

No, word order in Italian is quite flexible. You can also say C'è un tavolo di legno qui. Putting qui at the very beginning just emphasizes the location, like saying "Right here, there is a wooden table."

How do I pronounce the gn in legno?

The letter combination gn in Italian makes a sound similar to the "ny" in the English word "canyon" or "onion". You do not pronounce the "g" and "n" separately; legno sounds roughly like "LEN-yo".