Learn Italian: Sto attento al traffico. - I pay attention to the traffic.

Sto attento al traffico.

I pay attention to the traffic.

Breakdown of Sto attento al traffico.

to stay, to feel, to be

attento

careful, attentive

Questions & Answers about Sto attento al traffico.

Why does this sentence use sto instead of sono?

The phrase for "to pay attention" or "to be careful" in Italian is stare attento. Even though in English we say "I am careful" or "I pay attention", Italian uses the verb stare for this specific expression, so we use sto.

Would this sentence change if a woman is speaking?

Yes! Attento is an adjective that must agree with the person it describes. Since it ends in -o, it tells us the speaker here is male. A woman would say Sto attenta al traffico.

Where does the word al come from?

Al is a combined word made by merging the preposition a (to) and the definite article il (the). The phrase is stare attento a (to pay attention to), and Italian requires the definite article before nouns like traffico. So, a + il becomes al.

Can I use fare to say "I pay attention" instead of stare?