Learn Italian: I loro nonni hanno tre cani. - Their grandparents have three dogs.

I loro nonni hanno tre cani.

Their grandparents have three dogs.

Breakdown of I loro nonni hanno tre cani.

grandfather / grandparents (plural)

Questions & Answers about I loro nonni hanno tre cani.

Why is there an article "I" before "loro nonni"? I thought we dropped the article for family members.

You usually drop the article for singular family members (like mio nonno), but there are two rules overlapping here! First, plural family members always need the article (i miei nonni). Second, the word loro (their) is a special exception and always keeps the article, even in the singular (il loro nonno).

Why is it loro and not lori since nonni is plural?

Unlike other possessive words (like mio changing to miei), the word loro never changes its ending. It stays exactly the same for singular, plural, masculine, and feminine nouns. The article before it (i in this case) is what shows the gender and number.

Why is the plural of dog cani? Shouldn't the singular be cano?

The singular word for dog is actually cane. In Italian, nouns that end in -e in the singular change to -i in the plural. So un cane (one dog) becomes tre cani (three dogs).

Is the "h" in hanno pronounced?