Learn Italian: Dove sono le tue chiavi?

Dove sono le tue chiavi?

Where are your keys?

Breakdown of Dove sono le tue chiavi?

Questions & Answers about Dove sono le tue chiavi?

Why is there a le before tue chiavi? In English we just say "your keys".

In Italian, you almost always need a definite article (like il, la, i, or le) before a possessive adjective. Since chiavi (keys) is feminine plural, we use the feminine plural article le along with the feminine plural possessive tue.

chiavi ends in -i, which usually means masculine plural. Why are we using the feminine le tue?

Nouns that end in -e in the singular (like la chiave) change to -i in the plural, regardless of their gender. Chiave is feminine, so its plural is chiavi. The article and possessive must match this feminine gender, which is why we use le tue.

How do I know whether to use i tuoi or le tue for "your"?

The possessive must agree with the object being owned, not the person who owns it. Because the keys (chiavi) are feminine and plural, we use le tue. If you were asking about masculine plural objects, like books (libri), you would use i tuoi.

Why do we use sono here? Doesn't sono mean "I am"?