Learn Italian: Vieni verso il centro? - Are you coming toward the center?

Venire is an irregular verb. For the tu (you) form, the stem changes to add that 'i', making it vieni. Other forms like lui/lei viene (he/she comes) also share this 'ie' change, but noi veniamo (we come) uses the regular stem without the 'i'.

Why isn't the word 'tu' (you) used in this sentence?

In Italian, the verb ending almost always tells you who is doing the action. Because vieni can only mean 'you come' (informal singular), adding tu is unnecessary. You would only include it if you wanted to add emphasis, like 'Are you coming?'.

How do we know this is a question if the word order is exactly the same as a statement?

Unlike English, you don't need helper words like 'are' or 'do' in Italian to make a question. You simply use the regular statement form, Vieni verso il centro, and raise your pitch at the end of the sentence. In writing, the question mark is the only difference.

What kind of word is 'verso'?

While un verso can be a noun meaning a line of poetry or an animal sound, in this sentence verso is a very common preposition meaning 'toward' or 'towards'. It is incredibly useful for talking about directions and destinations.

When Italians say 'il centro', do they just mean the geographical middle of a place?