Gioco a tennis con mia sorella.

Questions & Answers about Gioco a tennis con mia sorella.

Why is there an a between Gioco and tennis?
In Italian, when you talk about playing a sport or a game, you always use the verb giocare followed by the preposition a. You cannot just say Gioco tennis like you would in English. You literally say that you play at tennis.
How does the preposition con work in this sentence?
con is a simple preposition meaning with. Just like in English, it is used to show who you are doing an activity with. It sits directly before the person you are accompanying, which is mia sorella (my sister) here.
Why is it just mia sorella instead of la mia sorella?
Usually, Italian requires a definite article before a possessive word, like la mia casa (my house). However, there is a strict rule: singular, unmodified family members do not take the article. Because sorella (sister) is a singular family member, we drop the la and simply say mia sorella.
Where is the word for I in this sentence?
The dictionary form of the verb is giocare (to play), and it changes to Gioco for the I form. Because the -o ending already tells the listener exactly who is doing the action, Italians usually drop the subject pronoun io (I).

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