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Mia sorella pratica atletica e corre i cento metri in quattordici secondi.

Mia sorella pratica atletica e corre i cento metri in quattordici secondi.
My sister does athletics and runs the hundred metres in fourteen seconds.
FromLesson 44inHardcore Italian

Questions & Answers about Mia sorella pratica atletica e corre i cento metri in quattordici secondi.

Why does the sentence use Mia sorella instead of la mia sorella?
In Italian, when you refer to a singular family member with a possessive adjective and no other modifier, you normally omit the definite article. Hence mia sorella rather than la mia sorella. If you add an adjective (e.g. la mia sorella maggiore), you must include the article.
Why is the subject pronoun lei omitted in Mia sorella pratica…?
Italian is a “pro-drop” language: verb endings indicate the subject, so the pronoun is often unnecessary. Here pratica clearly marks 3rd person singular, so saying lei pratica would be redundant.
Why does the sentence say pratica atletica instead of fa atletica?
Both are correct. Fare atletica is more colloquial (“to do track”), while praticare uno sport (“to practice/engage in a sport”) is slightly more formal or written. In everyday speech you might hear fa atletica, but pratica atletica is equally fine.
Why is there no article before atletica in pratica atletica?
Many sports follow praticare + [sport] without an article—e.g. praticare tennis, praticare nuoto, praticare atletica. If the sport name is modified (for example l’atletica leggera), you include the article: praticare l’atletica leggera.
Why use the definite article i in i cento metri?
In Italian you generally place a definite article before a distance or measurement used as a direct object: correre i cento metri, bere i tre bicchieri, percorrere i dieci chilometri. It treats the entire event (“the 100 metres”) as a defined unit.
Why say in quattordici secondi rather than per quattordici secondi?
Use in + [time] to express the time taken to complete an action (in 14 seconds, in un’ora). Per indicates duration of an activity—per due ore ho studiato (I studied for two hours)—but not the “time to finish” frame.
Could you say pratica l’atletica leggera instead of pratica atletica?
Yes. L’atletica leggera is the formal term for track and field. Saying pratica l’atletica leggera is correct and more precise. Omitting leggera still conveys the same meaning to most Italians.
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