Learn Italian: Oggi lavorano molto lentamente. - Today they are working very slowly.

Oggi lavorano molto lentamente.

Today they are working very slowly.

Breakdown of Oggi lavorano molto lentamente.

Questions & Answers about Oggi lavorano molto lentamente.

How do you form the adverb lentamente?

To make an adverb ending in -mente (which works like "-ly" in English), you start with the feminine singular form of the adjective. The Italian adjective for "slow" is lento. We change it to the feminine lenta, and then add -mente to get lentamente.

Will lentamente change its ending if a group of men is working?

No. Unlike adjectives, adverbs never change to match gender or number. Even though lentamente is built using the feminine form of the adjective (lenta), the final word stays exactly the same no matter who is doing the action.

Why doesn't molto change to match anything here?

When molto is used with a noun to mean "a lot" or "many," it changes its ending (like molti libri). But here, molto is acting as an adverb meaning "very," modifying how slowly they are working. When used as an adverb, molto always stays exactly the same.

The translation says "they are working," so why is the verb just lavorano?

In Italian, the simple present tense (lavorano) is often used to mean both "they work" and "they are working." While Italian does have a specific phrase for actions happening right this second (stanno lavorando), using the simple present is very common and natural.