Oggi c’è sciopero dei treni, quindi prendo l’autobus.

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Breakdown of Oggi c’è sciopero dei treni, quindi prendo l’autobus.

• essere: to be
• prendere: to take
• di: of

Questions & Answers about Oggi c’è sciopero dei treni, quindi prendo l’autobus.

What does c’è represent, and when should I use c’è vs ci sono?

c’è is the contraction of ci + è, literally “there is.”

• Use c’è with singular nouns or events (e.g. c’è un problema, c’è sciopero).
• Use ci sono (“there are”) with plural nouns (e.g. ci sono ritardi, ci sono due treni).

Why is there no article before sciopero in c’è sciopero, instead of c’è uno sciopero?

In idiomatic expressions with general events or public announcements, Italian often omits the indefinite article after c’è.

• c’è sciopero is more concise and commonly used.
• You could say c’è uno sciopero, but the shorter form is preferred in notices like this.

What role does dei play in sciopero dei treni?

dei is the partitive article (di + i) used before plural masculine nouns. It translates to “of the.”

• sciopero dei treni literally means “strike of the trains,” i.e. a train strike.

Why does the sentence use prendo l’autobus instead of ?