Question 1

Why is the verb finisce instead of just "fine"?

Accepted Answer

Finire (to finish) is an -ire verb that needs a special group of letters, -isc-, inserted before the ending. For the "he/she/it" form (which matches l'insegnante), we take the stem fin-, add -isc-, and then add the regular ending -e to get finisce.

Question 2

Is l'insegnante masculine or feminine?

Accepted Answer

It can be either! Words ending in -ante are often used for both men and women. Because the word starts with a vowel, it takes the article l' in both cases. You would only know the gender from context or by looking at adjectives, like l'insegnante bravo (male) or l'insegnante brava (female).

Question 3

Why is it la lezione if the word ends in -e? Shouldn't feminine words end in -a?

Accepted Answer

While most feminine words end in -a, many Italian words end in -e. These can be masculine or feminine, which you just have to memorize. However, a helpful trick is that words ending in -zione, like lezione (lesson) or stazione (station), are almost always feminine. That is why it uses the feminine article la.

Question 4

Tardi ends in an -i. Does this mean it is plural?

Accepted Answer

No. Tardi is an adverb meaning "late," which means it describes the action of the verb (finisce) rather than a noun. In Italian, adverbs never change their endings to match gender or number. It will always be tardi, regardless of who is finishing the lesson.

L'insegnante finisce la lezione tardi.

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