Breakdown of Maria va alla farmacia e alla spiaggia.
e
and
andare
to go / to be fine / to work out
a
to / at
Maria
Maria
la spiaggia
the beach
la farmacia
the pharmacy
Questions & Answers about Maria va alla farmacia e alla spiaggia.
Why is it alla instead of just a la?
In Italian, the preposition a (to or at) and the definite article la (the) always merge to form a single word: alla. You will never see a la written as two separate words.
How do I know to use alla for both places?
Why do we repeat alla before spiaggia? In English I just say 'to the pharmacy and beach'.
In Italian, you generally must repeat the preposition and the article for every single noun in a list. You cannot skip it for the second item like we often do in English.
Where does the word va come from?
Va translates to "goes". It is the he/she/it form of the verb andare (to go). Since andare is a highly irregular verb, forms like vado (I go) and va (she goes) do not look like the root word and just need to be memorized.
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