When you want to describe a place by talking about what happens there, Italian uses the word dove (where). While you may already know dove as a question word, it also acts as a relative pronoun to connect two clauses based on a physical location.
Before linking sentences, here is a useful verb for talking about time spent in a location:
| to spend (time) | trascorrere |
When using dove to connect clauses, place it immediately after the noun it refers to, such as a village or a hill.
| Do you know the village where we spent the summer? | Conosci il borgo dove abbiamo trascorso l'estate? |
| The hill where we walked yesterday is unforgettable. | La collina dove abbiamo camminato ieri è indimenticabile. |
Describing memorable spots
You can use dove to link all kinds of locations, from broad valleys to specific hidden spots, without needing any extra prepositions.
| The valley where we went on holiday is an unforgettable place. | La valle dove siamo andati in vacanza è un posto indimenticabile. |
| On the shore there is the hiding place where the children used to play. | Sulla riva c'è il nascondiglio dove i bambini giocavano. |
"Dove" vs "in cui"
For physical locations, dove is the most natural choice in everyday Italian. However, you will also encounter the phrase in cui (in which).
| The city in which we used to live has many ancient ruins. | La città in cui vivevamo ha molte rovine antiche. |
When talking about a physical space, in cui and dove are completely interchangeable, though in cui sounds slightly more formal.
| The bar where the men spend the evening is noisy. | Il bar dove gli uomini passano la sera è rumoroso. |
