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### Which way?

In the last lesson you learned where things are — *davanti*, *dietro*, *sotto*, *vicino*. This lesson turns that knowledge into directions: how to follow them, and how to give them.

### A sinistra, a destra

Italian points with **a** + a noun: {{item:850067}} is *the left*, {{item:850070}} is *the right*, and *a sinistra / a destra* means *to (or on) the left / the right*:

{{item:850069}}

When the way is straight, no noun is needed: {{item:850079}}. *Sempre dritto* — *straight on* — is the eternal answer of every Italian giving directions.

{{item:850082}}

### Up, down, around

{{item:850073}} is the mirror of *sotto*: the painting hangs *sopra il divano*, the cat sleeps *sotto il tavolo*. {{item:850076}} sends you *down* — down the stairs, downstairs to the kitchen.

{{item:850077}}

Two more direction words take **a**: *intorno a* — {{item:850083}} — circles *around* something, and *accanto a* — {{item:850092}} — puts you *right next to* it, closer than *vicino*.

### The compass

You already know *il nord* and *il sud*. {{item:850086}} — where the sun rises — and {{item:850089}} — where it sets — complete the compass. Like *a sinistra*, they drop the article after **a**: *a est*, *a ovest*.

{{item:850090}}

Directions (le indicazioni)

adjective

adjective/adverb

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

preposition

pronoun

proper noun

sentence

verb

Definite articles and gender (il, la, l')

Indefinite articles (un, una)

Singular demonstratives (questo, questa)

Basic verbal negation (non)

Yes/No questions

Coordinating conjunctions (e, ma, o)

Regular plurals and definite articles (-i, -e, i, le)

Plural verb to be (noi siamo, voi siete)

Plural demonstratives (questi, queste)

Nouns ending in -e

Special singular articles (lo, l')

The plural article (gli)

Special indefinite articles (uno, un')

Demonstrative adjectives (quello, quella)

Adjective endings (-o, -a, -i, -e)

Expressing quantity (molto, poco, tanto)

The verb to have (ho, hai, ha...)

There is / there are (c'è, ci sono)

The preposition of (di)

Singular possessives (il mio, la mia)

Numbers 1 to 10 (uno, due, tre...)

Numbers 11 to 20 (undici, dodici...)

Numbers 21 to 100 (trenta, quaranta...)

Idiomatic avere (avere fame, avere anni)

Plural possessive adjectives (i miei, le mie)

Possessives with family members (mio padre)

Formal address (dare del Lei)

Present tense of -are verbs (-o, -i, -a)

Question words (chi, cosa, dove)

Present tense of -ere verbs (-o, -i, -e)

Question words (quando, come, perché)

Question word agreement (quanto, quanta, quanti, quante)

Regular -ire verbs

Verbs with -isc- (capisco, capisci, capisce)

Pronouns after prepositions (me, te, lui)

The verb fare (faccio, fai, fa)

The verb andare (vado, vai, va)

The verb stare (sto, stai, sta)

The verb venire (vengo, vieni, viene)

The verb uscire (esco, esci, esce)

Location and destination (a, in)

Origin and movement (da)

Articulated prepositions with a (al, alla)

Articulated prepositions with in (nel, nella)

Articulated prepositions with di and da (del, dal)

Simple prepositions (con, per, su, tra)

Articulated prepositions with su (sul, sulla)

Months of the year

Telling time (sono le...)

Dates (il + number)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primo, secondo, terzo...)

The verb to want (volere)

The verb can (potere)

The verb must (dovere)

The verb to know (sapere)

Reflexive verbs (mi lavo, ti lavi)

Indirect object pronouns (gli, le, ci...)

Expressing preferences (mi piace)

Plural preferences (mi piacciono)

Comparatives (più... di, meno... di)

The passato prossimo with avere (ho parlato)

Irregular past participles (fatto, letto, preso)

The passato prossimo with essere (sono andato)

Reflexive verbs in the past (mi sono svegliato)

Time adverbs with the past tense (già, mai, ancora)

Third-person direct object pronouns (lo, la, li, le)

First and second-person direct object pronouns (mi, ti, ci, vi)

The four seasons

Prepositions of place (vicino a, davanti a)

Conversational words (beh, allora, davvero)

Indefinite adjectives for some (qualche, alcuni)

Indefinite adjectives for every and all (ogni, tutti)

Indefinite pronouns (qualcosa, qualcuno)

Noun suffixes (-ino, -one)

Adverbs of manner (-mente)

Comparisons of equality (così... come)

The relative superlative (il più)

The absolute superlative (-issimo)

Irregular comparatives (migliore, peggiore)

Present progressive (stare + -ando, -endo)

Imminent actions (stare per)

The locative pronoun (ci)

The partitive pronoun (ne)

Pronoun placement with modal verbs

Impersonal subjects (si)

Prepositions of time (da, per, tra, fra)

Past participle agreement with pronouns

Question	Answer
the left (side)	la sinistra
The supermarket is on the left, near the bank.	Il supermercato è a sinistra, vicino alla banca.
I turn left at the traffic light.	Giro a sinistra al semaforo.
the right (side)	la destra
The pharmacy is to the right of the supermarket.	La farmacia è a destra del supermercato.
The entrance of the museum is on the right.	L'ingresso del museo è a destra.
above, on top of	sopra
The painting is above the sofa.	Il quadro è sopra il divano.
Above the roof there is a bird.	Sopra il tetto c'è un uccello.
down, downstairs	giù
The bathroom is downstairs, under the stairs.	Il bagno è giù, sotto le scale.
I go down to the kitchen.	Vado giù in cucina.
straight, straight ahead	dritto
For the station, I keep going straight.	Per la stazione vado sempre dritto.
The bus turns right, then goes straight.	L'autobus gira a destra, poi va dritto.
The museum? Straight ahead, then to the right.	Il museo? Sempre dritto, poi a destra.
around (surrounding)	intorno
We walk around the lake.	Camminiamo intorno al lago.
The children run around the table.	I bambini corrono intorno al tavolo.
the east (m)	l'est
The airport is to the east, near the sea.	L'aeroporto è a est, vicino al mare.
Our hotel is east of the park.	Il nostro albergo è a est del parco.
the west (m)	l'ovest
The mountain is west of the lake.	La montagna è a ovest del lago.
We are going west, toward the sea.	Andiamo verso ovest, verso il mare.
next to, right beside	accanto
The pharmacy is next to the bakery.	La farmacia è accanto al panificio.
I sit down next to the window.	Mi siedo accanto alla finestra.

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