Learn Italian: Non ho capito la regola. È molto difficile. - I didn't understand the rule. It is very difficult.

Non ho capito la regola. È molto difficile.

I didn't understand the rule. It is very difficult.

Breakdown of Non ho capito la regola. È molto difficile.

Questions & Answers about Non ho capito la regola. È molto difficile.

Where is the word for "it" in È molto difficile?

In Italian, subject pronouns like "it", "I", or "she" are usually dropped because the verb itself tells you who or what the subject is. The verb È (is) already shows we are talking about a singular "it", referring back to la regola (the rule).

Why does the sentence use ho capito (literally "I have understood") instead of a simple past tense like "I understood"?

Italian uses this two-word past tense, called the passato prossimo, for almost all finished past actions in everyday conversation. Even though it translates literally as "I have understood", it is the standard, natural way to say "I understood" or "I didn't understand".

Since la regola is feminine, why doesn't molto change to molta?

Here, molto means "very" and is describing an adjective (difficile). When used this way, it never changes its ending. It only changes to match feminine or plural words when it means "a lot of" and describes a noun, like molta acqua (a lot of water).

Why doesn't difficile end in "-a" to match the feminine noun la regola?

Adjectives that end in "-e" in their singular form, such as difficile or intelligente, are exactly the same for both masculine and feminine nouns. They do not change to "-a" or "-o". They only change to "-i" when they become plural.