Breakdown of Quest'anno andiamo in vacanza in nave.
questo
this (masculine)
l'anno
the year (m)
in
in / made of (material)
andare in vacanza
to go on vacation
la nave
the ship
Questions & Answers about Quest'anno andiamo in vacanza in nave.
Why do we say in vacanza instead of a vacanza?
In Italian, certain common destinations, locations, or states of being always take the preposition in rather than a. The phrase in vacanza (on vacation) is a fixed expression you will just need to memorize, similar to in banca (to the bank) or in città (to the city).
Why does the sentence use in nave for by ship?
When talking about a means of transportation, Italian uses the preposition in where English uses the word by. So, in nave translates to by ship. You will use this same pattern for most other vehicles, such as in treno (by train) or in macchina (by car).
What does Quest'anno stand for, and why is there an apostrophe?
It is a combination of Questo (This) and anno (year). Because questo ends with a vowel and anno starts with one, the final o of questo is dropped and replaced with an apostrophe. This makes the two words flow together smoothly when speaking.
The English translation says we are going, but isn't andiamo just the present tense we go?
Yes, andiamo is the simple present tense. However, Italian uses the present tense much more broadly than English. It can mean we go, we are going right now, or even describe a planned future event. Since Quest'anno sets a future timeframe, using the simple present tense to express this plan is perfectly natural in Italian.
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