Word
Lo studente dagli occhi azzurri ha un bel sorriso.
Meaning
The student with the blue eyes has a nice smile.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Breakdown of Lo studente dagli occhi azzurri ha un bel sorriso.
un
a / an (masculine)
bello
beautiful
lo studente
the student
avere
to have
Questions & Answers about Lo studente dagli occhi azzurri ha un bel sorriso.
Why do we use dagli here instead of con gli to say "with the"?
In Italian, when describing someone by a physical characteristic or a distinctive feature, we use the preposition da combined with a definite article, rather than con (with). So, "the student with the blue eyes" becomes lo studente dagli occhi azzurri.
How exactly is dagli formed in this sentence?
Dagli is a combined preposition. It is made by merging da with the definite article gli. We use gli here because occhi (eyes) is a masculine plural noun starting with a vowel.
Why is the adjective bel shortened in un bel sorriso instead of using bello?
When placed before a noun, the adjective bello changes its form to match the type of definite article that noun would take. Because sorriso (smile) is a masculine singular noun starting with a consonant followed by a vowel, its definite article is il. Therefore, bello drops its ending to become bel, just like it does for any noun that takes il.
Why does studente take the article lo while sorriso takes il (which is implied by un)?