Learn Italian: Io compro un regalo per i miei genitori.

Io compro un regalo per i miei genitori.

I buy a gift for my parents.

Breakdown of Io compro un regalo per i miei genitori.

Questions & Answers about Io compro un regalo per i miei genitori.

Why does per stay separate from the article i instead of combining into one word?

Unlike prepositions such as di or a which merge with the article to make combined words (like del or al), the preposition per stays separate in everyday Italian. You just write per followed by the article i.

I learned that we don't use articles with family members (like mio padre). Why do we use i in i miei genitori?

The rule about skipping the article only applies to singular family members. Because genitori (parents) is plural, you must use the normal rule and include the article i before the possessive word miei.

Does genitori just mean parents, or does it mean relatives in general?

Genitori strictly means parents (mother and father). If you want to talk about your extended relatives, you use the word parenti. Watch out for parenti, as it is a false friend that looks like the English word parents but actually means relatives!

Do I have to include Io at the beginning of this sentence?

Not at all! In Italian, the verb ending tells you who is doing the action. Since compro already means I buy, starting the sentence with Compro un regalo is perfectly natural and actually more common.