Learn Italian: L'anno ha dodici mesi. - The year has twelve months.

L'anno ha dodici mesi.

The year has twelve months.

Breakdown of L'anno ha dodici mesi.

Questions & Answers about L'anno ha dodici mesi.

How do I remember that dodici is 12?

In Italian, the numbers 11 to 16 end in -dici (which is related to dieci, meaning 10). The beginning of the word tells you the base number: do- comes from due (two). So, two plus ten gives you twelve, or dodici.

Why is the plural for months mesi?

The singular word for month is mese. In Italian, nouns that end in -e in the singular (whether they are masculine or feminine) change their ending to -i in the plural. So, one mese becomes twelve mesi.

Why is it l'anno instead of il anno?

Anno is a masculine word starting with a vowel. For masculine words starting with a vowel, Italian uses the article lo instead of il. To make it easier to say and avoid two vowels next to each other, the o is dropped and replaced with an apostrophe. So, lo anno becomes l'anno.

How do I pronounce the verb ha?

The letter h is always completely silent in Italian, so you just pronounce this word exactly like "ah". It is spelled with an h to distinguish the verb "has" from the little word a, which means "to" or "at".