Learn Italian: La ragazza ha sete: l'acqua è lì. - The girl is thirsty: the water is there.

La ragazza ha sete: l'acqua è lì.

The girl is thirsty: the water is there.

Breakdown of La ragazza ha sete: l'acqua è lì.

Questions & Answers about La ragazza ha sete: l'acqua è lì.

Why does the sentence use ha (has) instead of è (is) for "is thirsty"?

In Italian, to express physical sensations like being thirsty, hungry, or cold, we use the verb avere (to have) plus a noun, instead of the verb to be plus an adjective. So, ha sete literally means she has thirst.

Why is it l'acqua instead of la acqua?

When a singular definite article like la comes right before a word that starts with a vowel, like acqua, the vowel in the article is dropped and replaced with an apostrophe. This makes the words flow together smoothly when speaking.

The word ha has a silent H. How do I know when to write ha instead of just a?

The H in ha is completely silent, so it sounds exactly like a (to/at). You know to use ha here because it is the "he/she/it" form of the verb avere (to have). Since the sentence is about what the girl "has", we need the verb form.

Why does the word lì have an accent mark?

The accent mark on lì (there) tells you to stress that vowel, but it also has another important job: it helps distinguish it in writing from li, which is a pronoun meaning "them".