Per Capodanno Anna indossa una giacca elegante, e a Natale ceniamo tutti insieme a casa della nonna.

For New Year’s Eve Anna wears an elegant jacket, and at Christmas we all have dinner together at Grandma’s house.

Breakdown of Per Capodanno Anna indossa una giacca elegante, e a Natale ceniamo tutti insieme a casa della nonna.

• Anna: Anna
• la casa: the house
• la giacca: the jacket
• e: and

Questions & Answers about Per Capodanno Anna indossa una giacca elegante, e a Natale ceniamo tutti insieme a casa della nonna.

Why does the sentence use per Capodanno but a Natale? Why are the prepositions different?

Italian often uses different prepositions with holidays depending on the idea being expressed.

• per Capodanno = for New Year’s / for New Year’s Eve/New Year

  • per often suggests for the occasion of or for that event.
  • Here it introduces the context in which Anna wears the elegant jacket.

• a Natale = at Christmas / on Christmas

  • a is very commonly used with major holidays and festive occasions.

So the sentence is not using the same pattern twice because the two time expressions are idiomatic:

• per Capodanno
• a Natale

Both are very natural.

What exactly does Capodanno mean?

Capodanno literally means head of the year, and in normal use it means New Year’s Day/New Year’s. In many contexts, especially in everyday speech, it can also refer more broadly to the New Year holiday period.

So Per Capodanno Anna indossa una giacca elegante means that for the New Year occasion, Anna wears an elegant jacket.

Why are Natale and Capodanno written without an article?