La casa è vicino al giardino.

The house is near the garden.

Breakdown of La casa è vicino al giardino.

• essere: to be
• vicino: near
• il giardino: the garden
• la casa: the house
• al: to the

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?

Yes. Using si trova is a perfectly acceptable way to indicate location and can add a slightly more formal or descriptive tone. The sentence La casa si trova vicino al giardino conveys the same idea of physical placement.

Why is the definite article la used with casa?

Since casa is a feminine singular noun, we naturally use the feminine singular article la before it. Also, Italian tends to use definite articles in many cases where English might not, so seeing la casa is completely standard.