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I pellegrini pregano nella basilica.

I pellegrini pregano nella basilica.
The pilgrims pray in the basilica.
From Lesson 269:Shortening adjectives (gran, san)·Italian

Questions & Answers about I pellegrini pregano nella basilica.

If we wanted to specify that they are praying in 'Saint Peter's basilica', how would we apply the rule for santo?
You would say nella basilica di San Pietro. The title santo drops its final syllable (truncates) to become San before most masculine names starting with a consonant, like Pietro or Francesco.
Which syllable gets the spoken stress in the verb pregano?
The stress falls on the first syllable: PRÈ-ga-no. A common mistake for learners is stressing the second-to-last syllable (pre-GA-no). Remember that for regular -are verbs, the stress in the loro (they) form stays on the exact same syllable as the io (I) form (io prego -> loro pregano).
Why do we use nella instead of just saying in la basilica?
As a quick refresher from earlier levels: in Italian, the preposition in must always combine with a following definite article (like la). When merging, in changes to ne- and the consonant of the article is doubled, giving us nella.
Where does the spoken stress fall on the word basilica?
The stress is on the third-to-last syllable: ba-SI-li-ca. This is an exception to the general Italian pattern where most words are stressed on the second-to-last syllable, so it is a great one to memorize!

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