Learn Italian: Il contadino raccoglie le patate che sono nel campo. - The farmer harvests the potatoes that are in the field.

Il contadino raccoglie le patate che sono nel campo.

The farmer harvests the potatoes that are in the field.

Breakdown of Il contadino raccoglie le patate che sono nel campo.

in the (in + il) / while / upon (doing something)

che

who, that (relative pronoun)

Questions & Answers about Il contadino raccoglie le patate che sono nel campo.

What is the word "che" doing in this sentence?

Che is a relative pronoun meaning "that" or "which". It connects the two halves of the sentence so we do not have to repeat the noun. Instead of saying "The farmer harvests the potatoes. The potatoes are in the field", che replaces the second mention of the potatoes.

Why do we use the plural verb "sono" right after "che"?

Because che is taking the place of le patate (the potatoes), which is plural. When che acts as the subject of the following verb, that verb must match the noun that che refers back to. Since "the potatoes" are plural, we use the plural verb sono (they are).

Why is it "nel campo" instead of "in il campo"?

In Italian, prepositions like in almost always merge with the word for "the" (the definite article) to form a single combined word. Since campo is masculine singular, it takes the article il. When you combine in and il, they merge to become nel (in the).

What verb does "raccoglie" come from?

It comes from the verb raccogliere, which means "to gather", "to pick", or "to harvest". Because il contadino (the farmer) is a "he", we use the regular third-person singular ending for an -ere verb, which is -e, giving us raccoglie.