Learn Italian: Iniziano il lavoro molto presto. - They start the work very early.

Iniziano il lavoro molto presto.

They start the work very early.

Breakdown of Iniziano il lavoro molto presto.

early / soon / quickly, hurry

Questions & Answers about Iniziano il lavoro molto presto.

Where is the word for "they" in this sentence?

In Italian, you don't usually need to use subject pronouns like loro (they). The ending of the verb tells you who is doing the action. The verb iniziare (to start) ends in -ano for the "they" form, so iniziano automatically means "they start".

In English we just say "They start work", so why is there an il before lavoro?

Italian uses definite articles (il, la, etc.) much more often than English. When talking about everyday routines, concepts, or general nouns like work, Italian usually requires the article, making it il lavoro.

Why doesn't molto change its ending here?

When molto means "very" and describes an adjective or another adverb like presto (early), it never changes its ending. It only changes to molta, molti, or molte when it means "many" or "a lot of" and is attached directly to a noun.

How would I use the question word quando to ask when they start work?

You simply put quando at the beginning of the sentence: Quando iniziano il lavoro? Notice that you don't need helper words like "do" or "does" to form questions in Italian. You just add the question word and use a questioning tone of voice.