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Siamo fermi ai semafori rossi.

Siamo fermi ai semafori rossi.
We are stopped at the red traffic lights.
From Lesson 46:Articulated prepositions with a (al, alla)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Siamo fermi ai semafori rossi.

Why do we use ai here instead of just a or a word like agli?
ai is an articulated preposition made from a (at) and i (the). We use i because semafori (traffic lights) is a masculine plural noun starting with a normal consonant. If the word started with a vowel or a tricky consonant like 's' plus another consonant, we would use agli instead.
Does fermi change depending on who is stopped?
Yes. fermi acts as an adjective here, describing the state of being stopped. Because the subject Siamo (We are) refers to a plural group (masculine or mixed gender), it takes the masculine plural ending -i. If a group of only women were speaking, they would say Siamo ferme.
Why is it semafori rossi and not rossi semafori?
In Italian, descriptive adjectives like colors almost always go directly after the noun they describe. Also, notice that rossi (red) changes its ending to -i to perfectly match the masculine plural noun semafori.
Could we use the preposition in instead of a for being stopped at a traffic light?
No, when you are stopped at a specific point or landmark on the street, like a traffic light or a stop sign, Italian uses the preposition a (which combines with the article to become ai here). Using in would sound like you are physically inside the traffic light!

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