Si manda una cartolina quando si visita una città nuova.

One sends a postcard when visiting a new city.

Breakdown of Si manda una cartolina quando si visita una città nuova.

• la città: the city
• quando: when
• nuovo: new
• visitare: to visit
• mandare: to send
• si: one
• la cartolina: the postcard

Questions & Answers about Si manda una cartolina quando si visita una città nuova.

What does the pronoun si mean in si manda?

The si here is the impersonal pronoun. It doesn’t refer to “he,” “she,” or “you” specifically, but to people in general. In English it translates as “one,” “you,” or “people”:
One sends a postcard when one visits a new city.

Why is there another si before visita?

Each verb in an impersonal construction needs its own si. Since you have two actions (manda and visita), you attach si to both to keep them generic/habitual.

Is this construction passive or impersonal?

It’s impersonal si, not the true passive. With impersonal si, the focus is on the action without naming the subject. A passive si would emphasise that something happens to the object (e.g. “Cartoline si mandano…”), but here we’re simply stating a general habit.

Why is the verb conjugated in the third person singular?

Impersonal si always takes 3rd person singular when there’s no explicit subject. That’s why you see manda and visita instead of plural forms.

Why is una cartolina singular? Could we use the plural?

Using una cartolina (“a postcard”) implies at least one postcard in a general statement. If you want to speak of postcards in general (plural), you can say:
Si mandano cartoline quando si visita una città nuova.
Here si mandano agrees in plural with cartoline.

Why is the present tense used instead of future or past?

Italian uses the simple present to express habits, general truths, or repeated actions—just like English. It’s not a specific event in the future or past, but a rule of thumb: whenever you visit, you send.

Could I say quando visiti una città nuova and drop the second si?

Yes—if you switch to a specific person. For example, telling someone directly:
Mandi una cartolina quando visiti una città nuova.
Here you use 2nd person singular without impersonal si.

Is there a difference between città nuova and nuova città?

Both mean “new city,” but word order can add nuance.
• città nuova (noun + adjective) is neutral/descriptive—just any city that’s new to you.
• nuova città (adjective + noun) can emphasise your impression of its newness. In everyday use, they’re often interchangeable.