Learn Italian: Lui fa la spesa con sua madre. - He does the shopping with his mother.

Lui fa la spesa con sua madre.

He does the shopping with his mother.

Breakdown of Lui fa la spesa con sua madre.

Questions & Answers about Lui fa la spesa con sua madre.

Why is the verb fa instead of a regular ending?

Fa comes from the irregular verb fare, which means to do or to make. Because it is irregular, it doesn't follow the normal -are verb rules. For he or she, the correct form is fa (as in lui fa). You just have to memorize this form!

Does fare la spesa apply to all types of shopping?

No! Fare la spesa specifically means grocery shopping or buying everyday household essentials. If he were shopping for clothes or shoes, you would use a different expression, like fare shopping or fare spese.

Why is there no la before sua madre? Shouldn't it be la sua madre?

In Italian, you usually put a definite article (like il or la) before a possessive word (like suo or sua). However, there is a special exception: you drop the article when talking about singular family members. Because madre (mother) is a singular family member, it is just sua madre.

Could I just say Fa la spesa without the word Lui?

Yes! In Italian, subject pronouns like lui (he) are optional because the verb form already shows who is doing the action. Including lui here just puts a little more emphasis on the fact that he is the one doing it.