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La nuova guida è inesperta ma gentile.

La nuova guida è inesperta ma gentile.
The new guide is inexperienced but kind.
From Lesson 298:Negative prefixes (in-, dis-, s-)·Italian

Breakdown of La nuova guida è inesperta ma gentile.

essere
to be
nuovo
new
ma
but
gentile
kind
la guida
the guide
inesperto
inexperienced

Questions & Answers about La nuova guida è inesperta ma gentile.

How is the word inesperta formed, and what does the prefix do?
It is formed by adding the negative prefix in- to the adjective esperta (experienced). Just like in English, this prefix flips the meaning of the base word to its opposite, meaning "inexperienced".
Could I use the prefix dis- or s- instead of in- to make this adjective negative?
No, negative prefixes are tied to specific words, and you usually have to memorize which one goes with which base word. While dis- and s- are very common (like in disordinato or sfortunato), the opposite of esperto is always inesperto.
If the guide is a man, would the sentence change to il nuovo guida è inesperto?
No, the noun guida is always grammatically feminine, even when referring to a male guide. Because the noun is feminine, all articles and adjectives describing it must stay feminine, so it is always la nuova guida è inesperta.
Why doesn't the adjective gentile end in -a to match the feminine noun guida?
Adjectives that end in -e in their dictionary form, like gentile, are used for both masculine and feminine singular nouns. They do not change to -a or -o, but they do change to -i when the noun is plural.

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