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Il pompiere spegne il fuoco.

Il pompiere spegne il fuoco.
The firefighter puts out the fire.
From Lesson 176:Roles and life stages (da)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Il pompiere spegne il fuoco.

The current lesson is about using da for professions. Why isn't there a da before pompiere here?
The preposition da is used to mean "as a" or "in the role of," like in lavora da pompiere (he works as a firefighter). In this sentence, il pompiere is simply the subject performing the action, so you just use the definite article il without a preposition.
Spegne means "puts out". What is the infinitive form, and is it irregular?
The infinitive is spegnere (to extinguish or to turn off). It is irregular in the present tense because a hard G sound appears in the "I" and "they" forms: io spengo and loro spengono. For the firefighter (he), it uses the regular stem: lui spegne.
Can I use spegnere for things other than literal fires?
Yes, it is very common! In everyday Italian, spegnere is the standard verb used to say "turn off" for electronics, screens, engines, and lights. For example, you would say spegnere il telefono to mean "turn off the phone".
What is the plural of fuoco if there are multiple fires?
The plural is i fuochi. Because fuoco ends in -co, you need to add an h before the final -i ending. This ensures the letter C keeps its hard "k" sound.

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