Learn Italian: L'insegnante gli fa una domanda difficile. - The teacher asks them a difficult question.

L'insegnante gli fa una domanda difficile.

The teacher asks them a difficult question.

Breakdown of L'insegnante gli fa una domanda difficile.

Questions & Answers about L'insegnante gli fa una domanda difficile.

Why does gli mean "them" here? Doesn't it mean "to him"?

Yes, gli officially means "to him". However, in everyday conversational Italian, people constantly use gli before the verb to mean "to them" as well! The strictly formal word for "to them" is loro, which always goes after the verb (fa loro instead of gli fa).

Why does the sentence use fa (from fare, to make/do) instead of a verb that means "asks"?

In Italian, the standard set phrase for asking a question is fare una domanda (literally "to make a question"). You use a verb like chiedere (to ask) when you are asking for something specific, like a favor or an object, rather than pairing it with the noun "question" itself.

Domanda is feminine, so why doesn't the adjective change to difficila?

Adjectives that end in -e in their singular dictionary form, like difficile or intelligente, do not change for gender. They stay exactly the same whether they describe a masculine or feminine noun. They only change to an -i when they become plural (domande difficili).

How do we know if l'insegnante is a male or female teacher?