Breakdown of Dopo l’arrivo prenderemo un tram per raggiungere il centro della città.
prendere
to take
di
of
la città
the city
per
for
dopo
after
noi
we
raggiungere
to reach
il centro
the centre
l’arrivo
the arrival
il tram
the tram
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Questions & Answers about Dopo l’arrivo prenderemo un tram per raggiungere il centro della città.
Why is Dopo l’arrivo used instead of just Dopo arrivo?
In Italian, when you use dopo followed by a noun, you normally include the definite article. So you get dopo + l’ + arrivo (“after the arrival”) rather than omitting the article.
Why does il become l’ in l’arrivo?
Because arrivo begins with a vowel, the masculine singular article il contracts to l’ by dropping the “i” and adding an apostrophe. This happens with all singular articles before vowel-starting words.
Could I say Dopo il nostro arrivo instead of Dopo l’arrivo?
Yes. Dopo il nostro arrivo (“after our arrival”) is perfectly correct, but in Italian you often omit the possessive when the context makes clear whose arrival you mean.
What does prenderemo mean and what tense is it?
Prenderemo is the first-person-plural form (noi) of the simple future tense of prendere (“to take”). It means “we will take.”
Why isn’t there a subject pronoun noi before prenderemo?
Italian verb endings already indicate person and number. The -emo ending tells you it’s noi (“we”), so the pronoun is usually dropped unless you want extra emphasis.
Why is un tram used here, and what gender is tram in Italian?
Tram is a masculine noun in Italian, so you use the masculine singular indefinite article un (“a tram”).
What function does per serve in per raggiungere il centro?
Here per introduces the purpose, equivalent to English “to” or “in order to.” It shows why you’re taking the tram.
Why isn’t there another preposition before raggiungere (like “a”)?
Raggiungere is a transitive verb that takes a direct object without any extra preposition. You say raggiungere il centro (“reach the center”), not raggiungere a il centro.
Why is it della città instead of di la città?
Della is the contraction of di + la, which you must use before the feminine singular noun città.
Why does città have an accent on the à, and does it change in the plural?
The accent marks stress on the final syllable. The plural of città is le città, identical in spelling (and still accented) to the singular.