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Loro partono fra una settimana.

Loro partono fra una settimana.
They leave in a week.
From Lesson 49:Simple prepositions (con, per, su, tra)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Loro partono fra una settimana.

Why does fra mean "in" here? Doesn't it usually mean "between"?
It does! But there is a special rule for time: when you talk about how long it will take for something to happen in the future, fra (and its twin tra) translates to "in". So, fra una settimana means "in a week".
Could I say tra una settimana instead?
Yes, absolutely! The prepositions tra and fra mean the exact same thing and are 100% interchangeable. Italians usually just pick the one that sounds better to avoid repeating sounds (for example, saying tra fratelli instead of fra fratelli to avoid repeating the "fra" sound).
Why is the present tense partono used if they are leaving in the future?
Just like in English ("They leave in a week" or "They are leaving in a week"), Italian often uses the present tense to talk about fixed future plans. You don't need to use a future tense verb here!
Can I leave out the word Loro?
Yes, you can just say Partono fra una settimana. Because the verb ending -ono already tells us that the subject is "they", the pronoun Loro is completely optional. Italians usually leave it out unless they want to emphasize exactly who is leaving.

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