Log inSign up

Un buono scolaro ascolta sempre l'insegnante.

Un buono scolaro ascolta sempre l'insegnante.
A good pupil always listens to the teacher.
From Lesson 148:Forms of 'good' (buon, buono, buona)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Un buono scolaro ascolta sempre l'insegnante.

Why is it buono scolaro and not buon scolaro?
The adjective buono changes its ending based on the sound of the word that follows it. Because scolaro starts with an "s" followed by another consonant (often called an "impure s"), buono keeps its full form. For most other masculine nouns, it would shorten to buon.
The phrase for "a pupil" is uno scolaro. Why does this sentence start with Un instead of Uno?
Articles always agree with the sound of the word immediately following them. Even though you would say uno scolaro on its own, adding the adjective changes things. Since buono starts with a standard consonant, it takes the standard masculine article un.
Why is there no word for "to" after ascolta?
In English, we use the preposition "to" after "listen." However, the Italian verb ascoltare directly means "to listen to." It takes a direct object, so you just say ascolta l'insegnante without adding any extra prepositions.
Why does sempre come after the verb, when in English we say "always listens"?
Adverb placement is slightly different in Italian. Adverbs of frequency like sempre (always) typically go immediately after the conjugated verb they describe, rather than before it. That is why the sentence says ascolta sempre instead of sempre ascolta.

Learn Un buono scolaro ascolta sempre l'insegnante and more in Italian

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning Italian →