Learn Italian: Ti voglio spiegare il funzionamento del collegamento. - I want to explain the functioning of the connection to you.

The suffix -mento is added to a verb stem to create a noun that describes an action, a process, or the result of that action. Here, it turns the verb funzionare (to function) into funzionamento (the functioning), and collegare (to connect) into collegamento (the connection).

Are nouns created with the -mento suffix always masculine?

Yes! Nouns formed by adding the suffix -mento to a verb are always masculine. That is why they take masculine articles, as seen here with il funzionamento and the combined preposition del (which is di + il) before collegamento.

Why doesn't this sentence use the word connessione for connection?

Both il collegamento and la connessione mean connection and are often interchangeable, especially in technology or logic. Notice that they both use abstract noun suffixes! Collegamento uses -mento (from the verb collegare), while connessione uses a variation of the -zione suffix (from the verb connettere).

Why is the pronoun Ti at the very beginning of the sentence instead of attached to the verb ?