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Ieri sera ho visto Marco suonare la chitarra e il violino.

Ieri sera ho visto Marco suonare la chitarra e il violino.
Last night I saw Marco playing the guitar and the violin.
From Lesson 258:Perception verbs with infinitives (vedere, sentire)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Ieri sera ho visto Marco suonare la chitarra e il violino.

Why does the Italian sentence use the infinitive suonare when the English translation says 'playing'?
This is a special rule for perception verbs like vedere (to see) and sentire (to hear). When you see or hear someone doing an action, Italian uses the infinitive of the verb rather than the gerund. So 'I saw Marco playing' becomes ho visto Marco suonare (literally 'I saw Marco to play'), rather than using suonando.
Could I change the word order and say ho visto suonare Marco?
Yes! With perception verbs, the person doing the action (Marco) can be placed either before or after the infinitive. Both ho visto Marco suonare and ho visto suonare Marco are completely correct and mean the exact same thing.
Why use ieri sera for 'last night' instead of ieri notte?
In Italian, sera (evening) is used for the time from late afternoon until people typically go to bed, which is when social events or concerts usually happen. Notte (night) specifically refers to the deep night when everyone is asleep. Therefore, 'last night' in the context of watching someone play music almost always translates to ieri sera.
Why is it suonare la chitarra and not giocare la chitarra?
Italian uses two different verbs for 'to play'. You use giocare for playing games or sports, but you must use suonare (which literally means 'to sound') for playing musical instruments.
Do I always have to use the articles la and il before the instruments here?
Yes, unlike English where we often say 'playing guitar' without the article, Italian requires the definite article after suonare when talking about instruments. That is why it must be la chitarra and il violino.

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