Word
Il ragazzo impara a suonare la tromba in un’orchestra.
Meaning
The boy learns to play the trumpet in an orchestra.
Part of speech
sentence
Pronunciation
Course
Lesson
Breakdown of Il ragazzo impara a suonare la tromba in un’orchestra.
in
in
suonare
to play
imparare
to learn
il ragazzo
the boy
Questions & Answers about Il ragazzo impara a suonare la tromba in un’orchestra.
Why is there an a before suonare?
Because in Italian certain verbs (for example imparare, cominciare, finire, provare) require the preposition a when they’re followed by another verb in the infinitive. So impara a suonare literally means “(he) learns to play,” with a linking imparare to suonare.
Why do we say suonare la tromba and not suonare tromba?
In Italian you generally use a definite article before the name of a musical instrument. Plus tromba is a feminine noun (it ends in -a), so it takes la. Correct form: suonare la tromba, just like suonare il pianoforte or suonare le percussioni.
Why is it in un’orchestra and not in una orchestra?
The indefinite article una elides its final vowel before a following vowel, turning into un’ and adding an apostrophe. Hence una orchestra becomes un’orchestra.
Why do we use in before un’orchestra? Could we use a different preposition?