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Dobbiamo andare alla libreria vicino alla scuola.

Dobbiamo andare alla libreria vicino alla scuola.
We have to go to the bookstore near the school.
From Lesson 77:Prepositions of place (vicino a, davanti a)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Dobbiamo andare alla libreria vicino alla scuola.

Why does the sentence use alla scuola instead of just saying vicino la scuola?
In Italian, the phrase for "near" is vicino a (literally "near to"). Because scuola (school) is a feminine noun that takes the article la, you must combine the preposition a with la to make alla. You can't drop the a!
Is libreria the Italian word for "library"?
It looks exactly like it, but libreria is a "false friend" - it actually means "bookstore" or "bookshop". If you want to talk about a "library" where you borrow books, you need the word biblioteca.
Why isn't the verb andare conjugated to match "we"?
Because it comes right after dobbiamo (we have to), which is a modal or "helping" verb. In Italian, just like in English, when you combine a helping verb and a main action verb, only the first one is conjugated. The second verb, andare (to go), stays in its original dictionary form (the infinitive).
I learned that places ending in -ia usually take the preposition in (like in pizzeria). Why is it alla libreria here?
Great memory! Normally, if you are just going to any bookstore, you would say andiamo in libreria. However, because we are talking about one very specific bookstore - the one near the school - we use alla (to the) instead of in to highlight that specific location.

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