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Mi abuela habla italiano.

Mi abuela habla italiano.
My grandmother speaks Italian.
From Lesson 19:Regular -ar verbs·Spanish (Latin America)

Questions & Answers about Mi abuela habla italiano.

Why does the verb end in -a here (habla)?
Habla is a form of the regular -ar verb hablar (to speak). Because the subject is mi abuela (which equals she, or ella), we drop the -ar from the end of the verb and add the ending -a to match.
Why isn't italiano capitalized?
In Spanish, names of languages, nationalities, days of the week, and months are not capitalized unless they appear at the very beginning of a sentence.
Could I say mi abuela ella habla to be clear?
No, because mi abuela is already the subject. Saying mi abuela ella habla would sound like 'my grandmother she speaks' in English. You only need mi abuela and the matching verb habla.
Since abuela is feminine, shouldn't she speak italiana?
No, because italiano here is the name of the language, which is always a masculine noun. It does not change to match the speaker. You would only use italiana if it were an adjective describing the grandmother herself, such as mi abuela italiana (my Italian grandmother).

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