Breakdown of Guardo la lavagna e copio le parole sul quaderno.
e
and
la parola
the word
il quaderno
the notebook
guardare
to look at / to watch
sul
on the; about the (su + il)
copiare
to copy
la lavagna
the blackboard
Questions & Answers about Guardo la lavagna e copio le parole sul quaderno.
Why is there no word for "at" after guardo?
In English, we say "look at", but in Italian, the verb guardare (to look / to watch) connects directly to the object. You don't need a preposition. So, guardo la lavagna simply means "I look at the blackboard."
Why does the sentence use sul instead of a word for "in" or "into"?
In Italian, you write on a notebook or a page, not in it. Therefore, you use the preposition su (on). When you combine su with the definite article il (the) for the masculine noun quaderno, it merges to become the combined word sul.
Why is the word "I" missing before the verbs?
Italian usually drops subject pronouns like io (I) because the verb ending already tells us who is doing the action. The -o ending on both guardo and copio shows clearly that the subject is "I".
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