Learn Italian: Non penso mai alla morte. - I never think about death.

In Italian, expressing "never" requires a double negative if the word mai comes after the verb. You put non before the verb and mai immediately after it, which literally translates to "I don't think never."

Why does it say alla (to the) instead of using an Italian word for "about"?

When you direct your thoughts toward someone or something, the verb pensare (to think) pairs with the preposition a (to). So instead of "thinking about" something, Italians "think to" it.

Why is it alla morte (to the death) instead of just a morte?

In English, we just say "death" when talking about it as a general concept. Italian, however, requires definite articles (like il or la) for abstract nouns and broad concepts. So "death" is la morte, and combining a + la gives us alla.

If I wanted to put this in the past tense, would I use the passato prossimo or the imperfetto?