Breakdown of L'altro ieri ho telefonato a mia nonna.
mio
my
la nonna
the grandmother
a
to / at
telefonare
to telephone
l'altro ieri
the day before yesterday
Questions & Answers about L'altro ieri ho telefonato a mia nonna.
Why does l'altro ieri mean "the day before yesterday"?
How is the past tense formed in ho telefonato?
This past tense is used for completed past actions. It has two parts: the helper verb avere (here, ho for "I have") and the past participle of the main verb. To make the past participle of an -are verb like telefonare, you drop the -are and add -ato, giving us telefonato.
Why is there an a after the verb?
In English we just say "to phone someone," but in Italian, the verb telefonare is always followed by the preposition a (to). You are literally saying "I phoned to my grandmother."
Why is it just mia nonna and not la mia nonna?
Usually, Italian possessives need a definite article before them (like la mia macchina for "my car"). However, there is a special rule for family members: singular family members (like nonna, madre, or fratello) drop the article when used with a possessive adjective like mia.
Learn L'altro ieri ho telefonato a mia nonna and more in Italian
All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.
- ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
- ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
- ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free