Question 1

What is the dictionary form of sentiamo, and how does it conjugate for "we"?

Accepted Answer

The dictionary form (infinitive) is sentire (to hear/to feel). It is a regular -ire verb. To make the "we" form (noi), you drop the -ire ending and add -iamo, giving us sentiamo. Interestingly, -iamo is the "we" ending for all regular verbs, whether they end in -are, -ere, or -ire!

Question 2

Why isn't the word for "we" (noi) in the sentence?

Accepted Answer

In Italian, you don't need to use subject pronouns like noi (we) or io (I) unless you want to add special emphasis. The verb ending in sentiamo already makes it perfectly clear that "we" are doing the hearing.

Question 3

Why is non placed where it is?

Accepted Answer

To make a sentence negative in Italian, you simply put non right in front of the verb. While in English we use helping words like "don't" or "doesn't", in Italian it is just non sentiamo (literally "not we-hear").

Question 4

rumore ends in -e. How do I know if it's masculine or feminine?

Accepted Answer

Nouns ending in -e can be either masculine or feminine, so you usually have to memorize the gender along with the word. However, in this sentence, the word for "the" right before it gives it away: il is used for masculine singular nouns, so rumore is masculine.

Question 5

The English translation puts "here" at the end, but the Italian starts with Qui. Is this word order strict?

Accepted Answer

No, Italian word order can be quite flexible! Starting with Qui emphasizes where you are: "Here, we don't hear the noise." You could also say Non sentiamo il rumore qui, which sounds more like the standard English word order.

Qui non sentiamo il rumore.

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