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Compro un chilo di pere al mercato.

Compro un chilo di pere al mercato.
I buy a kilo of pears at the market.
From Lesson 81:Frutta e verdura·Italian

Questions & Answers about Compro un chilo di pere al mercato.

Why do we say di pere instead of delle pere?
When you specify a quantity or measurement like un chilo (a kilo), un litro (a liter), or un po' (a little bit), you always follow it with the simple preposition di (of) without an article. You would only use delle (some) if you were saying "I buy some pears" (Compro delle pere) without giving the exact measurement.
Why is it al mercato rather than in mercato or nel mercato?
Locations in Italian often take specific prepositions that you simply have to memorize. For the market, Italians use the preposition a. Because mercato is a masculine noun starting with a consonant, the preposition a combines with the definite article il (the) to form the combined word al.
Why is it spelled chilo instead of "kilo"?
The traditional Italian alphabet doesn't include the letter K. To make that hard "k" sound before an "i", Italian spelling uses ch. If you bought more than one, it follows the regular plural rules: due chili.
Where is the word for "I" in this sentence?
It is built right into the verb! The -o ending on compro tells us that "I" am doing the buying. You can say io compro, but Italians usually drop the io unless they want to specifically emphasize that they are doing the action instead of someone else.

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