Breakdown of Il regista decide di interrompere l'azione.
il regista
the director (film, theater)
decidere
to decide
di
to (linking a verb to a following infinitive)
interrompere
to interrupt
Questions & Answers about Il regista decide di interrompere l'azione.
Why do we need the word di before interrompere? Doesn't the infinitive already mean "to interrupt"?
You are right that interrompere already means "to interrupt". However, in Italian, many verbs require a specific linking word (a preposition, like di or a) to connect them to the next verb. The verb decidere (to decide) is one of these: it always requires di before a following infinitive. You cannot just put the two verbs together directly!
Regista ends in "-a", so why does it use the masculine article il?
Nouns ending in -ista (which are often professions like regista, dentista, or giornalista) are a special group. In the singular, they end in "-a" for both men and women. You tell the gender entirely by the article! Here, il regista tells us it is a male director. A female director would be la regista.
Because of the apostrophe in l'azione, how can I remember if it is a masculine or feminine word?
Do I need to worry about how to conjugate interrompere here?