Learn Hardcore Italian: Ieri ho visto il mio amico in città. - Yesterday I saw my friend in the city.

In Italian, ho visto is the passato prossimo (a compound past tense) often used to describe a completed action in the recent past. Vedevo is the imperfetto, which would imply a continuous or repeated action in the past. Here, you’re talking about a single, completed action (you saw your friend once, yesterday), so ho visto is correct.

Is it necessary to include the article il before mio amico?

Yes, in Italian it’s standard to use the definite article before possessive adjectives when referring to most singular nouns, like mio amico, mia sorella, etc. One exception is with singular family members (e.g., mia madre, mio padre, mio fratello), but an amico is not in that close family circle, so you need il.

Why is ieri at the beginning of the sentence?

In Italian, time expressions like ieri often appear at the beginning or end of a sentence to clarify when an action took place. It’s a common way to start a statement, but you could also say Ho visto il mio amico in città ieri without changing the meaning.

Does in città refer to any specific city or just a city in general?

Literally, in città means in (the) city, but without further context, it often just means somewhere in town or in the downtown area. It doesn’t necessarily specify which city unless the context is already clear from the broader conversation.

Is amico always written in lowercase?

Yes, amico (friend) is a common noun in Italian and follows the usual convention of lowercase unless it starts a sentence. Proper nouns, like people’s names or city names, are capitalized, but nouns like amico are not.