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Marco e Anna sono di Milano?

Marco e Anna sono di Milano?
Are Marco and Anna from Milan?
From Lesson 19:The preposition of (di)·Italian

Breakdown of Marco e Anna sono di Milano?

essere
to be
e
and
di
of, from
Marco
Marco
Anna
Anna
Milano
Milan

Questions & Answers about Marco e Anna sono di Milano?

Why do we use "di" here to mean "from"?
In Italian, to say what city someone is from, we use the verb essere (to be) followed by the preposition di and the name of the city. So, sono di Milano translates to "they are from Milan".
Why is the verb "sono"? Doesn't that mean "I am"?
The verb essere is slightly tricky because it uses the exact same word, sono, for both "I am" (io sono) and "they are" (loro sono). Since the subject here is Marco e Anna (they), sono means "they are".
How do you make this a question since the word order is exactly like a regular statement?
In Italian, you don't need to swap words around or add extra words like "do" or "are" to ask a simple yes-or-no question. You just take the regular statement and add a question mark. When speaking, you simply make your voice go up at the end of the sentence.
Do we need an article before the city name, like "di il Milano"?
No, with very few exceptions, city names in Italian do not take a definite article (words like "the" in English). You just put the preposition directly in front of the city's name: di Milano.

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