Question 1

Why is there an "i" before "nostri"? English doesn't say "the our colleagues".

Accepted Answer

In Italian, possessive adjectives like nostri (our) almost always need a definite article (like il, la, i, or le) right in front of them. Since colleghi is a masculine plural noun, we use the masculine plural article i, making the full phrase i nostri.

Question 2

How do I know whether to use "nostro", "nostri", or "nostre"?

Accepted Answer

Possessive adjectives must match the gender and number of the noun they describe, not the people who "own" it. Here, the noun is colleghi (colleagues), which is masculine and plural. Therefore, you use the masculine plural form nostri. If it were an all-female group of colleagues, it would be le nostre colleghe.

Question 3

The singular of "colleghi" is "collega", which ends in an "-a". Doesn't that make it feminine?

Accepted Answer

Collega is a special noun! It can be masculine (il collega) or feminine (la collega) depending on who you are talking about. When making the masculine version plural, the "-a" ending changes to an "-i", becoming i colleghi.

Question 4

Why is there an "h" in "colleghi"?

Accepted Answer

In Italian, the letter "g" followed by an "e" or "i" makes a soft sound (like in "gelato"). To keep the hard "g" sound from the singular word collega (like in "go"), we have to insert an "h" before the "i" ending.

Question 5

Why do we say "in vacanza" instead of translating "on vacation" literally?

Accepted Answer

Prepositions rarely translate word-for-word between languages. While English speakers go "on" vacation, Italians go "in" vacation. The standard expression is always in vacanza, and it is best to memorize it as a set phrase.

I nostri colleghi sono in vacanza.

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