Learn Italian: Non sappiamo chi è questo signore. - We don't know who this gentleman is.

Non sappiamo chi è questo signore.

We don't know who this gentleman is.

Breakdown of Non sappiamo chi è questo signore.

Questions & Answers about Non sappiamo chi è questo signore.

Why do we use sappiamo here instead of a form of conoscere?

Both verbs mean to know, but they are used differently. Conoscere means to be familiar with a person or place (like knowing a friend). Sapere, which gives us sappiamo, is used for knowing facts or information. Since we are talking about knowing a fact (the identity of the man), we use sapere.

The English translation says who this gentleman is. Why does the Italian word order look like who is this gentleman?

In English, the word order changes when a question is placed inside a statement (Who is he? vs. I know who he is). Italian keeps it simple: the word order stays exactly the same as if you were asking a direct question, so it is written as chi è questo signore.

I have seen Mr. translated as signor. Why does it have an e at the end (signore) in this sentence?

Signore is the full word for gentleman or man. You only drop the final e and use signor when it is used as a title directly followed by a person's last name, such as il signor Rossi (Mr. Rossi).

Where does the do not come from in the translation?

Italian does not use helper words like do or does. To make a sentence negative, you simply put non directly in front of the verb. So, sappiamo means we know, and non sappiamo means we do not know.