Learn Italian: Abbiamo un amico di Milano. - We have a friend from Milan.

Abbiamo un amico di Milano.

We have a friend from Milan.

Breakdown of Abbiamo un amico di Milano.

Questions & Answers about Abbiamo un amico di Milano.

Why is it di Milano instead of da Milano for "from Milan"?

The preposition di is used to say where someone is originally from, especially with cities. While da also means "from," it is mostly used for physical movement (like traveling from a place). Since we are describing the friend's roots rather than a journey, di is the right choice.

Where is the Italian word for "we" in this sentence?

In Italian, you don't always need to say the subject pronoun, which would be noi for "we". The verb abbiamo already means "we have," so the "we" is built right into the word. Dropping the pronoun makes the sentence sound more natural.

How would this sentence change if the friend were female?

You would change un amico to un'amica. When a feminine word starts with a vowel (like amica), the word for "a" (una) drops its last letter and takes an apostrophe instead. The new sentence would be: Abbiamo un'amica di Milano.

Why does the sentence use Milano instead of Milan?

Many famous Italian cities have English names that are slightly different from their true Italian names. In Italian, the city is always called Milano. You will also see this with cities like Roma (Rome), Firenze (Florence), and Venezia (Venice).