Learn Italian: Mangio la carne con il coltello. - I eat the meat with the knife.

Mangio la carne con il coltello.

I eat the meat with the knife.

Breakdown of Mangio la carne con il coltello.

Questions & Answers about Mangio la carne con il coltello.

Why is there no word for "I" before mangio?

In Italian, the verb ending tells you who is acting. The -o at the end of mangio means "I eat." You can use the pronoun io (I), but it is usually dropped unless you are emphasizing who is doing the eating.

If carne ends in -e, how do I know it takes the feminine article la?

While most feminine nouns end in -a, there is a group of nouns ending in -e that can be either masculine or feminine. Carne is one of these feminine -e words, which is why it uses la. For words ending in -e, you just have to memorize their gender!

Why are con and il written as two separate words here?

While some Italian prepositions must merge with the word for "the" (like di + il becoming del), the word con is an exception. It is completely correct and very common to leave con and il as separate words, though you might sometimes see them informally combined into col.

Is con the normal word to use when talking about using a tool like a knife?

Yes! Just like in English, you use con (with) to show the instrument or tool you are using to complete an action, such as eating with a knife.