Questions & Answers about La macchina blu è nuova.
Why doesn't the word for blue change to match the feminine noun? Shouldn't it be blua?
In Italian, blu is an invariable adjective. This means it never changes its ending, no matter if the noun it describes is masculine, feminine, singular, or plural. You will always just use blu.
Why does nuova end in an a here?
Regular adjectives in Italian must agree with the gender and number of the noun they describe. Because macchina is a feminine singular noun, the base adjective nuovo changes its ending to nuova to match it perfectly.
I sometimes see auto used for car. Is there a difference between auto and macchina?
Both words mean car, but macchina is the most common, everyday word used in spoken Italian. Auto (which is short for automobile) is also correct but sounds a bit more formal or technical.
Why does the word è have an accent mark over it?
The accent mark shows that è is the verb meaning 'is' (from the verb essere). Without the accent mark, the word e simply means 'and'. It is a very important spelling difference to remember!