Breakdown of Marco prende sempre un buon voto a scuola.
un
a / an (masculine)
buono
good
Marco
Marco
sempre
always
prendere
to take
a
to / at
la scuola
the school
il voto
grade
Questions & Answers about Marco prende sempre un buon voto a scuola.
Why is it buon voto instead of buono voto?
The adjective buono (good) changes its ending based on the word that follows it, acting a lot like the indefinite articles (un, uno, una, un'). Because voto is a masculine noun starting with a regular consonant, we drop the final letter and use buon. Notice how it perfectly matches the article before it: un buon voto.
The English translation says Marco 'gets a good grade', but doesn't prende mean 'takes'?
Why does sempre come right after the verb? Could I put it at the end of the sentence?
Adverbs of frequency, like sempre (always) and mai (never), usually go immediately after the conjugated verb in Italian. While putting it at the very end might be understood, Marco prende sempre is the correct and most natural word order.
Why is it just a scuola rather than combining a with a definite article to make alla scuola?
Just like in English where we say at school instead of at the school, Italian treats certain everyday locations as fixed phrases without the definite article. You will also see this rule with a casa (at home) and a letto (in bed).
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