Breakdown of Quell'albero, il cui tronco è molto grande, è nel giardino botanico.
essere
to be
grande
big
molto
very
l'albero
the tree (m)
quello
that
il giardino
the garden
nel
in the (in + il) / while / upon (doing something)
il cui
whose (il cui, la cui, i cui, le cui)
il tronco
the trunk
botanico
botanical
Questions & Answers about Quell'albero, il cui tronco è molto grande, è nel giardino botanico.
Why does "whose trunk" translate to il cui tronco? Do we always need the article il?
Does the il in il cui agree with albero (tree) or tronco (trunk)?
It agrees with tronco (the possessed thing), not albero (the owner). This is a crucial rule to remember! Since tronco is masculine singular, we use il. Even if the owner was a feminine word like quella pianta (that plant), it would still be la pianta, il cui tronco... because the trunk itself remains masculine singular.
Why is "that tree" written as Quell'albero instead of Quello albero?
The adjective quello (that) changes its ending based on the word that follows it, very similarly to how the definite article (il, lo, la, l') works. Because albero is a masculine noun starting with a vowel, quello drops its final vowel and takes an apostrophe, becoming quell' (just like you would say l'albero instead of lo albero).
Why is it nel giardino and not in il giardino?
Whenever the preposition in is followed directly by a definite article, they always merge into a single word called an articulated preposition. The combination of in + il always forms nel.
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