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Va' al fiume con la torcia se hai sete.

Va' al fiume con la torcia se hai sete.
Go to the river with the flashlight if you are thirsty.
From Lesson 121:Irregular informal commands (sii, fa', sta')·Italian

Questions & Answers about Va' al fiume con la torcia se hai sete.

Why does Va' have an apostrophe at the end?
Va' is the informal imperative (command) form of andare (to go) for tu (you). The full form is vai, but Italians often drop the final letter and replace it with an apostrophe. You will see this trick with other irregular command forms too, like fa' (from fare) or di' (from dire).
Why is it al fiume instead of just a fiume?
In Italian, you usually need to combine the preposition a (to) with the definite article (the) when talking about going to specific places. Because fiume (river) is masculine, it takes the article il. When you combine a + il, it creates the combined preposition al.
Fiume ends in -e, so how do I know its gender?
Nouns ending in -e can be either masculine or feminine in Italian, so you usually just have to memorize their gender. However, the combined word al gives you a massive hint here! Because it is made from a + il, you know right away that fiume is masculine. If it were feminine, it would use alla.
Why does it say hai sete (you have thirst) instead of using the verb 'to be'?
In English, we say we are thirsty, but in Italian, you have thirst. Sete is a noun meaning 'thirst', so it pairs with the verb avere (to have). This is a very common pattern for physical feelings in Italian, just like avere fame (to be hungry) or avere freddo (to be cold).

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