Questions & Answers about I colori del mare sono belli.
Why is the word del used instead of just di?
del is an articulated preposition, which means it is a combination of a preposition and a definite article. Here, Italian combines di (of) and il (the) into del to mean "of the".
How do we know to use il (and therefore del) with mare, since it ends in -e?
Why is the adjective belli plural when the closest noun, mare, is singular?
Adjectives always match the noun they are describing. In this sentence, belli (beautiful) describes i colori (the colors), not il mare (the sea). Because colori is masculine and plural, the adjective changes its ending to match, becoming belli.
How did colore become colori?