Breakdown of La casa è vicino al giardino.
essere
to be
vicino
near
il giardino
the garden
la casa
the house
Questions & Answers about La casa è vicino al giardino.
Why is vicino not changed to vicina even though la casa is feminine?
In this expression, vicino is functioning more like an adverb or part of the prepositional phrase vicino a, so it does not change to agree in gender with casa. If vicino were used purely as an adjective (describing the house directly), then we could say La casa vicina. However, in the phrase La casa è vicino al giardino, it remains invariable.
How do we form the preposition al in vicino al giardino?
The preposition al is a contraction of a + il. Whenever a precedes the masculine singular article il, they merge into al. Therefore, vicino a il giardino becomes vicino al giardino.
Why do we use è instead of sta in La casa è vicino al giardino?
In standard Italian, essere (è) is commonly used to indicate where something is located. The verb stare can sometimes be used for location in certain contexts (regional usage or to emphasize a temporary state), but the most natural and widely accepted way to say the house is near the garden is with La casa è vicino al giardino.
Could we say La casa si trova vicino al giardino instead?