Learn Italian: La farmacia è a destra del supermercato. - The pharmacy is to the right of the supermarket.

La farmacia è a destra del supermercato.

The pharmacy is to the right of the supermarket.

Breakdown of La farmacia è a destra del supermercato.

Questions & Answers about La farmacia è a destra del supermercato.

Why does this use "a destra" instead of another preposition?

In Italian, fixed directional phrases like "to the right" (a destra) and "to the left" (a sinistra) always use the preposition a.

Why is it del instead of just di?

When you say "to the right of the" in Italian, you must combine the preposition di (of) with the definite article (the). Since supermercato is a masculine noun that takes the article il, you combine di + il to get the joined word del.

Does a destra always have to be followed by del or di?

Only if you are mentioning what it is to the right of. If you just wanted to say "The pharmacy is on the right," you would simply say "La farmacia è a destra" and stop there. But to connect it to the supermarket, you need di (which becomes del here).

How would this sentence change if the pharmacy was to the right of the station (la stazione)?

Because stazione is a feminine noun, it uses the article la. You would combine di + la to make della, giving you: La farmacia è a destra della stazione.