Learn Italian: Il regista smette di gridare. - The director stops shouting.

Il regista smette di gridare.

The director stops shouting.

Breakdown of Il regista smette di gridare.

the director (film, theater)

to (linking a verb to a following infinitive)

Questions & Answers about Il regista smette di gridare.

Why do we need the word di before gridare?

The verb smettere (to stop or to quit) requires the preposition di to connect it to the next verb. Many Italian verbs require a specific preposition before an infinitive, and for smettere, it is always di.

Why is gridare in the infinitive form ("to shout") instead of an "-ing" form like in English?

In Italian, whenever a verb immediately follows a preposition like di, it must be in its infinitive form (gridare). English often uses the "-ing" form ("shouting") in these situations, but Italian strictly uses the infinitive.

The word regista ends in -a. Why does it use the masculine article il?

Regista (director) is a special noun that ends in -a for both men and women. You only change the article to show the person's gender. Here, il regista tells us it is a male director. If it were a female director, it would be la regista.

Could I use the verb fermare instead of smettere to say "he stops"?

Not in this context. Fermare is used for physically stopping someone or something (like a car). Smettere is used to mean "to quit" or "to cease an action", which is why it pairs perfectly with stopping the activity of shouting.