Learn Italian: Festeggiamo il Capodanno insieme. - We celebrate New Year's Day together.

Festeggiamo il Capodanno insieme.

We celebrate New Year's Day together.

Breakdown of Festeggiamo il Capodanno insieme.

insieme

together / together with

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Questions & Answers about Festeggiamo il Capodanno insieme.

Why doesn't the sentence say Noi festeggiamo?

In Italian, the ending of the verb tells you who is doing the action. The -iamo ending in festeggiamo already means "we", so the pronoun noi (we) is usually dropped unless you want to add special emphasis.

Why is there an il before Capodanno? English doesn't say "the New Year's Day".

Italian uses definite articles like il for dates and many specific holidays. Just like you need il for numbered calendar dates (like il cinque for "the fifth"), you also use it to point to a specific calendar event like il Capodanno.

Where does the word Capodanno come from?

It literally translates to "head of the year". It is made up of capo (head or beginning), d' (of), and anno (year). This makes it easy to remember that it refers to New Year's Day!

Why does festeggiamo only have one "i" if the stem has an "i" and the ending is -iamo?

The dictionary form of the verb is festeggiare. When you drop the -are, you are left with the stem festeggi-. When adding the "we" ending -iamo, Italian spelling drops the extra "i" so you don't end up with an awkward double "i" (festeggiiamo).