Breakdown of Al nostro arrivo, la ragazza sarà già andata alla dogana.
essere
to be
la ragazza
girl
nostro
our
andare
to go / to be fine / to work out
a
to / at
alla
to the / at the (feminine singular)
già
already
l'arrivo
the arrival
la dogana
customs
Questions & Answers about Al nostro arrivo, la ragazza sarà già andata alla dogana.
Why do we use sarà (from essere) instead of avrà (from avere) for the future perfect here?
Because the main verb is andare (to go), which is a verb of motion. Just like in the passato prossimo (present perfect), verbs that indicate movement from one place to another take essere as their auxiliary (helping) verb in all compound tenses, including the futuro anteriore.
Why does the past participle end in "-a" (andata)?
Why is già placed right in the middle of sarà and andata?
Why do we use al in Al nostro arrivo to mean "Upon our arrival"?
The preposition a combined with a definite article (here, a + il = al) is frequently used before an event noun to mean "at the time of" or "upon." You will also see this in similar phrases like alla sua partenza (upon his departure).
Why is it alla dogana (to the customs) instead of just in dogana?
While some destinations take in without an article (like in banca or in farmacia), many specific public offices or checkpoints like la dogana (customs) or la stazione (the station) require the preposition a combined with the definite article when expressing movement toward them, forming alla (a + la).
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