Breakdown of Devo studiare per la prova.
studiare
to study
per
for / in order to / because of
dovere
must
la prova
the test, the proof
Questions & Answers about Devo studiare per la prova.
Why is studiare not conjugated to match the subject?
When you use a modal verb like dovere (to have to/must), only that first verb gets conjugated. Since devo already tells us the subject is 'I', the main verb studiare stays in its infinitive (dictionary) form, meaning 'to study'.
Where is the word for 'I' in this sentence?
In Italian, the subject pronoun io (I) is usually dropped. The ending of the verb devo already makes it perfectly clear that 'I' am the one who has to do it. You would only say io devo if you wanted to add strong emphasis.
Could I translate devo as 'I must' instead of 'I have to'?
Why don't the words per and la combine into a single word here?
Unlike other common prepositions such as a, di, or in, the preposition per (for) does not combine with definite articles like la (the) in everyday modern Italian. They just stay as two separate words: per la prova.