Breakdown of I biglietti? Dovete stamparli prima del viaggio.
il biglietto
the ticket
il viaggio
the trip
dovere
must
li
them (masculine direct object)
del
of the; than the (di + il)
prima
before, earlier
stampare
to print
Questions & Answers about I biglietti? Dovete stamparli prima del viaggio.
Why is the pronoun li attached to the end of stamparli?
When you have a modal verb like dovete (you must) followed by an infinitive like stampare (to print), you can attach the object pronoun directly to the end of the infinitive. Notice that we drop the final -e of the infinitive to do this: stampare + li = stamparli.
Can I put li before the verb instead?
Yes! With modal verbs like dovere (must), potere (can), and volere (want), you have two choices. You can attach the pronoun to the infinitive (Dovete stamparli) or put it before the conjugated modal verb (Li dovete stampare). Both are perfectly correct and mean the exact same thing.
How do I know to use li here?
Why is it prima del and not just prima di il?
The phrase "before [a noun]" is always prima di in Italian. When the preposition di is followed by the definite article il (the), they must combine to form the single word del. You cannot say di il viaggio; it must be del viaggio.
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