Breakdown of Domani Marco va a scuola, ma stasera va al cinema.
ma
but
Marco
Marco
andare
to go / to be fine / to work out
a
to / at
domani
tomorrow
al
to the / at the
il cinema
the cinema
stasera
tonight / this evening
la scuola
the school
Questions & Answers about Domani Marco va a scuola, ma stasera va al cinema.
Why is "goes" translated as va? Shouldn't it be something like "anda"?
The verb for "to go" is andare. It is a highly irregular verb, meaning its forms don't follow the normal pattern for verbs ending in -are. For "he, she, or it goes", the correct form is va. The forms of andare just need to be memorized!
The sentence starts with domani (tomorrow). Why is it using the present tense va instead of a future tense?
In Italian, it is very common to use the present tense to talk about the future, especially when the event is planned, certain, or happening soon. Saying Domani Marco va a scuola is a perfectly natural way to say "Tomorrow Marco is going to school."
Why is it a scuola but al cinema? Why not use al for both?
With the verb andare, the preposition you use depends on the destination. A few everyday locations take the simple preposition a (to/at) without any word for "the"—a scuola (to school), a casa (to home), and a letto (to bed) are the most common. But for most other places, like cinema, you must combine a with the definite article (the). Since cinema is a masculine noun, a + il combines to form al.
Why isn't there a word for "he" before the second va?
Italian often drops subject pronouns (like lui for "he") if we already know who is doing the action. Since we just established that Marco is the one going to school, the second va obviously still refers to him, so adding lui isn't necessary.
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