Learn Italian: Loro scrivono sui fogli. - They write on the sheets of paper.

Loro scrivono sui fogli.

They write on the sheets of paper.

Breakdown of Loro scrivono sui fogli.

Questions & Answers about Loro scrivono sui fogli.

Why is 'on the' translated as sui here?

The word sui is a combined word (an articulated preposition). It joins su (on) with i (the masculine plural article for 'the'). We use i here because fogli is a masculine plural noun that starts with a normal consonant.

What is the singular form of fogli?

The singular is foglio, which means a sheet of paper. Because it is a masculine noun ending in -o, its plural changes the ending to -i, making it fogli.

Do I always have to use Loro when saying 'they'?

No, you can usually drop it. In Italian, the verb ending already tells us who is doing the action. Scrivono specifically means 'they write', so saying just Scrivono sui fogli is perfectly fine and very natural.

How do we know to use the -ono ending for scrivono?

The base verb is scrivere (to write), which is a regular verb ending in -ere. For regular -ere verbs, the 'they' (loro) ending is always -ono.