Questions & Answers about Lei è americano o inglese?
Why does this sentence use Lei if it translates to "Are you"?
In Italian, Lei is used as the formal "you" when speaking politely to a stranger, a professional, or someone older. Even though it looks exactly like the word for "she", context (and often a capital L) tells you it means formal "you".
Why use the verb è (is) instead of sei (are)?
Since Lei is grammatically feminine, why is the adjective americano masculine?
This is a very common trap! Even though the formal pronoun Lei is feminine, adjectives describing the person still match their actual gender. Because the sentence uses americano ending in -o, we know the speaker is talking to a man. If they were asking a woman, it would be Lei è americana?
Does inglese also change depending on who you are talking to?
No. Nationalities and other adjectives that end in -e in their singular form, like inglese, are the same for both masculine and feminine. It stays inglese whether you are talking to a man or a woman.
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