Learn Italian: Loro partono tra una settimana.

Loro partono tra una settimana.

They leave in a week.

Breakdown of Loro partono tra una settimana.

Questions & Answers about Loro partono tra una settimana.

Why does the sentence use tra instead of in for the phrase in a week?

To say an event will happen a certain amount of time from now, Italian uses tra or fra. The word in is generally used to talk about how long it takes to complete a task, rather than pointing to a scheduled moment in the future.

Could I use fra instead of tra in this sentence?

Absolutely. The words tra and fra mean exactly the same thing. Saying fra una settimana is identical to tra una settimana. Speakers usually just choose whichever one avoids repeating similar sounds from the surrounding words.

Why is partono in the present tense if they are leaving in the future?

Just like in English, where you can say they leave in a week, Italian frequently uses the present tense to talk about definite plans in the near future. The preposition tra already makes it perfectly clear that the action has not happened yet, so you don't necessarily need the future tense.

Is it necessary to include the subject pronoun Loro?

No, you could simply say Partono tra una settimana. Because the verb ending in partono already tells us it is they who are leaving, the pronoun is optional. Including Loro just adds a bit of emphasis, as if pointing out that they are the ones leaving, perhaps in contrast to someone else who is staying.