Breakdown of Il bambino fa il bagno.
il bambino
the child
il bagno
the bath / the bathroom
fare il bagno
to take a bath, to have a swim
Questions & Answers about Il bambino fa il bagno.
Why is fa used here instead of a regular verb ending?
Fa is the "he/she/it" form of the irregular verb fare (to do / to make). Because il bambino is a third-person subject ("he"), we use fa. You just have to memorize its forms since it doesn't follow normal -are conjugation rules.
Doesn't fare mean "to do" or "to make"? Why does the English translation say "is taking"?
The translation says "is taking", but isn't fa the simple present tense?
Exactly! In Italian, the simple present tense can be used for things happening right now. Il bambino fa il bagno can mean either "The child takes a bath" (as a general habit) or "The child is taking a bath" (right at this moment).
Why is it il bagno (the bath) instead of un bagno (a bath)?
In English, we usually say "take a bath", but the Italian expression uses the definite article il (the) to say "make the bath". It's best to learn the whole phrase fare il bagno as one fixed chunk of vocabulary.
Learn Il bambino fa il bagno and more in Italian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free