Learn Italian: Facciamo una passeggiata con il cane. - We are taking a walk with the dog.

Facciamo una passeggiata con il cane.

We are taking a walk with the dog.

Breakdown of Facciamo una passeggiata con il cane.

Questions & Answers about Facciamo una passeggiata con il cane.

Why does the sentence use facciamo ("we make/do") when the English translation says "taking"?

In Italian, the verb fare (to do/make) is used in many everyday expressions where English uses verbs like "to take" or "to have". To say "to take a walk", Italians literally say "to make a walk": fare una passeggiata. Facciamo is the "we" form of this irregular verb.

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

Italian usually drops subject pronouns like noi (we) because the verb's ending already tells us who is doing the action. The -iamo ending on facciamo specifically means "we make" or "we do", so adding noi at the beginning isn't needed unless you want to add special emphasis.

The word cane (dog) ends in "-e". How do we know if it is masculine or feminine?

Nouns ending in -e can be either masculine or feminine in Italian, so you just have to learn their gender as you go. Luckily, the little words around them give the answer away! Here, the masculine article il right in front of it (il cane) tells us that cane is a masculine word.

Why don't con and il combine into one single word like other prepositions do?