Il fiore è giallo.

From Lesson 78:Colors (i colori)·Italian

Breakdown of Il fiore è giallo.

essere
to be
il fiore
the flower
giallo
yellow

Questions & Answers about Il fiore è giallo.

Fiore ends in -e. How can I tell if it's masculine or feminine?
Nouns ending in -e in Italian can be either masculine or feminine, so you often have to learn the gender when you learn the word. However, in this sentence, the article il (the masculine word for "the") and the adjective giallo (which takes the masculine singular -o ending) give away that fiore is a masculine word.
How would I change this sentence to say "The flowers are yellow"?
You would say I fiori sono gialli. The article il changes to i, the noun fiore changes to fiori (because nouns ending in -e change to -i in the plural), the verb becomes sono (are), and the adjective giallo changes to gialli to match the masculine plural noun.
Why is there an accent mark on the word è?
The accent mark shows that it is the verb meaning "is" (from the verb essere). Without the accent mark, e just means "and". The accent is crucial in writing because it completely changes the role and meaning of the word in the sentence.

Learn Il fiore è giallo 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