Breakdown of Il cavolo è una verdura d'inverno.
essere
to be
una
a / an (feminine)
di
of, from
l'inverno
the winter (m)
Questions & Answers about Il cavolo è una verdura d'inverno.
Why do we say Il cavolo (the cabbage) when the English translation is just "cabbage"?
In Italian, when you are talking about a general category, concept, or species as a whole, you must use the definite article (il, la, i, le). English drops the "the" for general statements, but Italian requires it, so "Cabbage is..." becomes Il cavolo è...
The English translation says "a winter vegetable". Why does the Italian use d'inverno (of winter)?
Why is there an apostrophe in d'inverno instead of just saying di inverno?
When the preposition di comes right before a word that starts with a vowel, like inverno, the i in di is dropped and replaced with an apostrophe. This makes the words flow together more smoothly when spoken.
I thought verdura meant "vegetables" in plural. Why is it used with una here?