Breakdown of Chi va a prendere la nonna alla stazione?
la stazione
the station
chi
who, whom
la nonna
the grandmother
alla
to the / at the (feminine singular)
andare a prendere
to go and get, to pick up (someone)
Questions & Answers about Chi va a prendere la nonna alla stazione?
Why does prendere mean 'to pick up' here? I learned it means 'to take'.
While prendere usually means 'to take', the phrase andare a prendere (literally 'to go to take') is the standard Italian way to say 'to pick someone up'. If you are picking an object up off the floor, you would use a different verb like raccogliere.
Does va a prendere work exactly like the English 'is going to' future tense?
Not quite! In English, 'going to' often just marks the future tense even without movement (like 'It is going to rain'). In Italian, andare a followed by an infinitive is only used when there is actual physical movement involved—someone is literally traveling to the station.
If I replace la nonna with the pronoun la ('her'), where does it go in this sentence?
You have two choices. When a conjugated verb is linked to an infinitive (like va a prendere), the clitic pronoun can go before the conjugated verb (Chi la va a prendere?) or it can attach to the end of the infinitive, dropping the final 'e' (Chi va a prenderla?).
How would I apply this lesson's grammar to say 'Who is picking her up?' using stare and a gerund?
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