Learn Hardcore Italian: Per orientarmi, guardo a nord e poi cammino verso sud. - To orient myself, I look north and then walk south.

Per + infinitive expresses purpose in Italian. Per orientarmi literally means “in order to orient myself” or “to get my bearings.” It tells you why the speaker looks north before walking south.

Why do we say guardo a nord instead of guardo nord?

When you talk about looking in a direction, Italian uses the preposition a (or sometimes verso). So guardo a nord is “I look north” (literally “I look at north”). Dropping the preposition (guardo nord) sounds ungrammatical.

Why is cammino verso sud used? Could we say cammino a sud?

Verso expresses motion toward a point (“towards”). Cammino verso sud = “I walk toward the south.” You might hear cammino a sud, but it can imply location (“I walk in the southern area”) rather than direction. Never cammino sud without a preposition.

Why are the verbs guardo and cammino in the present tense instead of past or infinitive?

The sentence describes what the speaker is doing right now or habitually. Italian often uses the present indicative to narrate immediate actions. To retell past actions, you’d use the passato prossimo: ho guardato a nord e poi ho camminato verso sud.

Why is there a comma after Per orientarmi?

Because Per orientarmi is an introductory subordinate phrase expressing purpose. In Italian, such introductory clauses are normally followed by a comma to separate them from the main clause.

Why use camminare instead of the more general andare?

Camminare means “to walk on foot,” while andare means “to go” (by any means). Here the nuance is that the speaker is specifically walking rather than taking a vehicle.

Should nord and sud be capitalized in Italian?

No. Cardinal directions (nord, sud, est, ovest) are typically lowercase in Italian unless they’re part of a proper noun (e.g., Regione Sud Italia).