Breakdown of Lui sposa la sua ragazza l'anno prossimo.
lui
he
la ragazza
the girl
l'anno
the year (m)
suo
his/her/Your
prossimo
next
sposare
to marry (someone)
Questions & Answers about Lui sposa la sua ragazza l'anno prossimo.
Why doesn't this sentence use the reflexive si sposa?
In Italian, the verb sposare (to marry) is used directly with a person: lui sposa la sua ragazza (he marries his girlfriend). You use the reflexive verb sposarsi (to get married) when there is no direct object, like lui si sposa l'anno prossimo (he is getting married next year) or with the preposition con (with). Since this sentence has a direct object, we just use the standard verb sposa.
Why is the present tense sposa used to mean "is marrying" next year?
Just like in English, Italians often use the present tense to talk about scheduled or planned events in the future. Because the sentence includes l'anno prossimo (next year), the future meaning is clear, so the present tense is perfectly natural.
Why is there an article in la sua ragazza? I thought family members drop the article with possessives.
Why is there an l' in front of anno prossimo?
In Italian, time expressions like "next year" or "last month" usually require a definite article. So "next year" becomes l'anno prossimo (literally "the next year").
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