Breakdown of Vado all'estero per lavoro.
il lavoro
the work / the job
per
for / in order to / because of
andare
to go / to be fine / to work out
a
to / at
Questions & Answers about Vado all'estero per lavoro.
Why is it all' and not just a or al?
The word for "abroad" is estero. Because it is a masculine noun starting with a vowel, it takes the definite article l' (the). When you combine the preposition a (to) with l', they merge into the articulated preposition all'.
Why do we need "to the" (all') when English just says "go abroad"?
In English, "abroad" acts like an adverb, so we don't use a preposition. In Italian, estero is a noun meaning "foreign territory" or "the outside". You have to treat it like a physical place, so you literally say "I go to the foreign territory" (vado all'estero).
Where is the word for "I" in this sentence?
In Italian, subject pronouns like io (I) are usually dropped. The verb vado (from the irregular verb andare, meaning "to go") already means "I go", so adding io is only done if you want to emphasize that you are going instead of someone else.