Learn Italian: Quando fa freddo, dormo molto. - When it is cold, I sleep a lot.

Quando fa freddo, dormo molto.

When it is cold, I sleep a lot.

Breakdown of Quando fa freddo, dormo molto.

Questions & Answers about Quando fa freddo, dormo molto.

Why does the sentence use fa instead of a word for "is" to say "it is cold"?

In Italian, when talking about the weather, you usually use the verb fare (to do or to make) instead of essere (to be). So, instead of saying "it is cold," Italians literally say "it makes cold" (fa freddo).

What is the subject of fa in this sentence?

The subject is an invisible "it". Fa is the "he/she/it" form of the irregular verb fare. When describing weather, Italian uses this form without needing to say an actual word for "it".

Where is the word for "I" in "I sleep"?

It is built right into the verb! Dormo means "I sleep." In Italian, you usually drop the subject pronoun (like io) because the verb's ending already tells you who is doing the action. The -o ending belongs to the "I" form of the verb dormire (to sleep).

Could molto change its ending here if the speaker is feminine?

No, it stays exactly as molto. When molto means "a lot" and is used to describe a verb (like how much you sleep), it acts as an adverb. Adverbs never change their endings. It only changes endings to match gender and number when it describes a noun (like "many cars" or "much water").