A dicembre compro un regalo per mia madre, ma a Capodanno resto volentieri a casa.

In Italian, a is often used with time expressions like months, holidays, and specific occasions.

• a dicembre = in December
• a Capodanno = on New Year’s Day / at New Year

This does not always match English word-for-word. English uses in with months and on/at with holidays, but Italian often uses a in these cases.

A few similar examples:

• a gennaio = in January
• a Natale = at Christmas
• a Pasqua = at Easter

So this is a normal Italian pattern, even if it feels unusual from an English perspective.

With close family members in the singular, Italian often leaves out the article before the possessive.

So you usually say:

• mia madre = my mother
• mio padre = my father
• mio fratello = my brother
• mia sorella = my sister

Not normally:

• la mia madre
• il mio padre

However, the article usually comes back in other situations, for example:

• with plurals: i miei genitori
• with modified family nouns: la mia cara madre
• with some less basic family terms depending on usage

So per mia madre is the standard form here.

Volentieri means gladly, willingly, or happily.

In this sentence:

• resto volentieri a casa = I gladly stay home / I’m happy to stay home

It adds the idea that the speaker does this with pleasure, not reluctantly.

You may also hear it in replies:

• Vuoi venire? — Volentieri! = Do you want to come? — Gladly!

So it is a very useful adverb in everyday Italian.

A casa is the normal Italian expression for at home or home.

So:

• resto a casa = I stay home / I stay at home

Italian usually prefers a casa in this kind of context.

Compare:

• sono a casa = I’m at home
• vado a casa = I go home
• resto a casa = I stay home

In casa also exists, but it often emphasizes being inside the house/building, rather than simply the general idea of being home.

So in this sentence, a casa is the natural choice.

Italian uses the present tense in several ways, including for:

1. habitual actions
2. general statements
3. near-future actions, depending on context

Here, the sentence can sound like a habitual or typical statement:

• A dicembre compro un regalo per mia madre = In December I buy a present for my mother
• a Capodanno resto volentieri a casa = On New Year’s Day / At New Year I happily stay home

English sometimes uses the present similarly:

• In December I buy...
• At New Year I stay home...

Depending on context, Italian could also use a future form, but the present is completely natural here.

Capodanno usually refers to New Year’s Day or the New Year period/celebration, depending on context.

In many everyday contexts:

• a Capodanno can mean at New Year or on New Year’s Day

If someone specifically wants to say New Year’s Eve, Italian commonly uses:

• la notte di Capodanno
• la vigilia di Capodanno
• or simply context may make it clear

So in your sentence, a Capodanno resto volentieri a casa most naturally means something like:

• At New Year, I’m happy to stay home or
• On New Year’s Day, I happily stay home

Italian usually needs an article where English sometimes does too.

• un regalo = a present / a gift

So:

• compro un regalo = I buy a present

If you said just compro regalo, that would sound incorrect in standard Italian.

The indefinite article un is needed here because the speaker is talking about one unspecified gift.

Per here means for.

So:

• un regalo per mia madre = a gift for my mother

This is a very direct and common use of per.

Other examples:

• un libro per Marco = a book for Marco
• questo è per te = this is for you

So this part matches English quite closely.

Resto is the first-person singular form of restare.

• restare = to stay, to remain

So:

• resto = I stay / I remain

In this sentence:

• resto volentieri a casa = I gladly stay home

A few other forms:

• resti = you stay
• resta = he/she stays
• restiamo = we stay
• restano = they stay

You may also see rimanere, which can also mean to stay/remain. In many contexts, restare and rimanere are similar.

Yes, volentieri can move around somewhat, but its position here is very natural.

• resto volentieri a casa = the most straightforward order
• volentieri resto a casa = possible, but more emphasis on willingly/gladly
• resto a casa volentieri = also possible in some contexts

Italian adverbs often have flexible placement, but not every position sounds equally natural. In this sentence, putting volentieri after the verb works very well.

It is often capitalized because it refers to a named holiday or celebration, much like Christmas or New Year in English.

So you may see:

• Capodanno
• Natale
• Pasqua

In modern usage, capitalization is common for holidays, though style can vary a little depending on the publisher or writer.

Usually, a dicembre is the most natural choice here.

• a dicembre = in December

You may sometimes see in dicembre, but it is less common in everyday speech for this kind of sentence.

Nel dicembre usually sounds more specific, like referring to that particular December, often in a more literary or historical style:

• Nel dicembre del 2022... = In December 2022...

So for a general statement like this one, a dicembre is the best option.

Because ma means but, and it joins two full clauses:

• A dicembre compro un regalo per mia madre
• ma a Capodanno resto volentieri a casa

Using a comma before ma is very normal here, just as in English you often write:

• I buy a present for my mother in December, but at New Year I gladly stay home.

So the punctuation is standard and helps separate the two contrasting ideas.