Learn Italian: Torniamo dai nonni. - We are returning from the grandparents.

Torniamo dai nonni.

We are returning from the grandparents.

Breakdown of Torniamo dai nonni.

il nonno

the grandfather / the grandparents (plural)

tornare

to return

from, at (someone's place) / by (oneself), on one's own

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Questions & Answers about Torniamo dai nonni.

How exactly do we get the word dai in this sentence?

dai is an articulated preposition, meaning it is a preposition joined with a definite article (the word for "the"). Here, the preposition da (from) combines with i (the masculine plural "the" for nonni) to form dai.

Why do we use da (inside dai) instead of di here?

The preposition da is used to show movement from a place or a person, which fits perfectly with the verb torniamo (we are returning). The preposition di is mostly used to mean "of" or to show possession, which doesn't fit the action of returning.

Where is the word for "we" in the Italian sentence?

Italian usually drops the subject pronoun because the verb ending already tells you who is doing the action. The -iamo ending on torniamo (from the verb tornare) always means "we" (noi), so adding the pronoun isn't necessary unless you want to add special emphasis.

Since nonno means grandfather, why does nonni translate to "grandparents" here?

In Italian, a mixed-gender group always takes the masculine plural form. So while i nonni can simply mean a group of grandfathers, it is also the standard way to say "the grandparents" (a grandmother and a grandfather together).