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Il cane di mia sorella è un maschio.

Il cane di mia sorella è un maschio.
My sister's dog is a male.
From Lesson 135:Formal commands (Lei, Loro)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Il cane di mia sorella è un maschio.

Why is it Il cane di mia sorella and not Mia sorella's cane?
Italian doesn't have an equivalent to the English "'s" to show ownership. Instead, you always have to use the preposition di (of) and flip the order to say "the dog of my sister" (il cane di mia sorella).
Why is there no article before mia sorella? Shouldn't it be la mia sorella?
In Italian, you normally put a definite article before possessives (like il mio cane). However, the rule changes for family members! When talking about a singular close family member (like sorella, fratello, or madre), you drop the article and just say mia sorella.
Could I say the dog is un uomo or un ragazzo instead of un maschio?
Uomo (man) and ragazzo (boy) are only used for humans. When talking about the biological sex of an animal, you must use maschio (male) or femmina (female).

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