Scrivo una cartolina ai miei genitori.

I write a postcard to my parents.

Breakdown of Scrivo una cartolina ai miei genitori.

• io: I
• miei: my
• scrivere: to write
• a: to
• il genitore: the parent
• la cartolina: the postcard

Questions & Answers about Scrivo una cartolina ai miei genitori.

Why is the simple present tense scrivo used here instead of the English-style continuous “I am writing”?

In Italian the presente indicativo covers both simple and ongoing actions. Although you can say sto scrivendo (using the gerund) to stress that you’re doing it right this moment, scrivo by itself usually means “I write” or “I’m writing,” depending on context.

Why is there an indefinite article una before cartolina?

Italian normally requires an article before singular, countable nouns. Here una is the feminine singular indefinite article matching cartolina (a feminine noun ending in –a).

Why is the preposition a combined with the definite article i to form ai?

Italian merges certain prepositions with definite articles.
• a + i = ai
• di + i = dei, da + il = dal, and so on.
So ai miei genitori literally comes from a i miei genitori.

Why do we use i miei genitori instead of just miei genitori?

With plural possessive adjectives in Italian, you normally keep the definite article. That is, you say i miei genitori (“the my parents”), even though in English we drop “the.” The one exception is singular, unmodified family members: e.g. mia madre (no article), but le mie sorelle (with article).

Could we replace ai miei genitori with an indirect‐object pronoun?

Yes. You can say:
• Gli scrivo una cartolina. (clitic pronoun for “to them”)
Or less commonly:
• Scrivo loro una cartolina.
But if you use gli, you normally drop the full phrase ai miei genitori unless you want to emphasize or clarify.

Why is the subject pronoun io omitted before scrivo?

Italian verb endings already indicate the subject, so subject pronouns are optional and often dropped. Scrivo clearly means “I write” or “I am writing” without needing io.

What’s the difference between cartolina and lettera?

A cartolina is a postcard (usually with a picture on one side); a lettera is a letter (an envelope with pages inside). If you want to say “I’m writing a letter,” you’d use Scrivo una lettera.