Learn Italian: Invito Marco alla festa. - I am inviting Marco to the party.

Invito Marco alla festa.

I am inviting Marco to the party.

Breakdown of Invito Marco alla festa.

Marco

alla

to the / at the (feminine singular)

Questions & Answers about Invito Marco alla festa.

Why does the translation say "I am inviting" instead of "I invite"?

In Italian, the simple present tense like invito covers both general facts ("I invite") and actions happening right now ("I am inviting"). You do not need a separate "-ing" verb form here.

Where is the word for "I" in this sentence?

It is built right into the verb! The -o ending on invito tells us the subject is "I" (io). In Italian, you usually drop subject pronouns like io or tu unless you want to emphasize them.

How is the word alla formed?

Alla is a combination of the preposition a (meaning "to" or "at") and the word la ("the"). We use la because it matches the feminine singular noun festa (party).

Since this lesson is about venire (to come), how would I say "Marco is coming to the party"?

You would say Marco viene alla festa. Viene is the irregular "he/she" form of venire, and it uses the exact same phrase (alla festa) to show where he is going.

Wait, doesn't invito also mean "an invitation"?