Question 1

Why do we use da here for "from" instead of di?

Accepted Answer

We use da to talk about physical movement from a starting point (like traveling from Turin). You might remember using di to say where someone is from originally (like Sono di Torino - I am from Turin). But when there is movement involved, like with the verb venire (to come), you must use da.

Question 2

The English translation says "is coming", but isn't viene the simple present tense?

Accepted Answer

Yes! In Italian, the simple present tense (viene) translates to both "comes" and "is coming". You don't need a separate "-ing" form to talk about actions happening right now or in the near future.

Question 3

Why is it just da Torino and not combined with an article, like dal Torino?

Accepted Answer

In Italian, we don't use definite articles (words for "the") before the names of cities. Because there is no article to combine with, the preposition da stays on its own. It is always just da Torino (from Turin), da Roma (from Rome), and so on.

Question 4

Could I put oggi at the end of the sentence instead?

Accepted Answer

Yes, you can! Marco viene da Torino oggi is perfectly correct. Putting oggi at the very beginning just places a little more emphasis on the fact that this is happening "today", but the core meaning remains exactly the same.

Oggi Marco viene da Torino.

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