Learn Italian: Nascondere una debolezza è molto difficile.

Nascondere una debolezza è molto difficile.

Hiding a weakness is very difficult.

Breakdown of Nascondere una debolezza è molto difficile.

Questions & Answers about Nascondere una debolezza è molto difficile.

How is the word debolezza formed?

It comes from the adjective debole (weak) combined with the suffix -ezza. Adding -ezza to an adjective is a common way to form an abstract noun in Italian, much like adding "-ness" in English (weakness, sadness). Nouns ending in -ezza are feminine.

Why is the infinitive nascondere used to mean "hiding"? Shouldn't it be a gerund like nascondendo?

In English, we often use the "-ing" form as the subject of a sentence. In Italian, however, you must always use the infinitive (the base "to [verb]" form) when a verb acts as the subject. The Italian gerund is only used for ongoing actions, never as a noun.

If I wanted to talk about multiple "weaknesses", how does the ending of debolezza change?

The plural is debolezze. Like most feminine nouns ending in -a, it follows the standard rule and changes its ending to -e in the plural.

Why doesn't molto change its ending to agree with the feminine noun debolezza?

In this sentence, molto (very) is an adverb describing the adjective difficile (difficult), so it stays invariable. Molto only changes to agree with gender and number when it acts as an adjective modifying a noun, like in the phrase molte debolezze (many weaknesses).