Log inSign up

Il gatto bianco dorme.

Il gatto bianco dorme.
The white cat is sleeping.
From Lesson 79:Colors (i colori)·Italian

Breakdown of Il gatto bianco dorme.

il gatto
the cat
dormire
to sleep
bianco
white

Questions & Answers about Il gatto bianco dorme.

Why does the Italian sentence just use dorme when the English translation says 'is sleeping'?
In Italian, the simple present tense (dorme) translates to both 'sleeps' and 'is sleeping'. You do not need to build a complex sentence to show an action is happening right now. While Italian does have a continuous form (sta dormendo), the simple present is widely used and completely natural here.
Why is the color placed after the animal to make gatto bianco?
Unlike English, Italian generally places descriptive adjectives like colors, shapes, and nationalities immediately after the noun they describe.
Why does dorme end in -e?
The dictionary form of the verb is dormire (to sleep). For regular -ire verbs, the 'he/she/it' form used for a single subject like il gatto drops the -ire and adds -e.
If this were a female cat, would the verb change?
No. If the subject were female, the first part would change to match the feminine gender (la gatta bianca), but the verb remains dorme. Verbs in this tense change based on the person doing the action, never their gender.

Learn Il gatto bianco dorme 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 →