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Compro tre pesche e una pera al mercato.

Compro tre pesche e una pera al mercato.
I buy three peaches and a pear at the market.
From Lesson 81:Frutta e verdura·Italian

Questions & Answers about Compro tre pesche e una pera al mercato.

Why is pesche spelled with an "h"?
Pesche is the plural of pesca (peach). In Italian, feminine nouns ending in -ca change to -che in the plural to keep the hard "k" sound. Without the "h", it would be pronounced with a soft "ch" sound (and pesce actually means "fish"!).
Why do we use al before mercato instead of in?
In Italian, certain locations traditionally take the preposition a (at/to) rather than in. Mercato is one of these words. Because it is a masculine noun (il mercato), the preposition a combines with the article il to make al.
Where is the word for "I" in this sentence?
The word io (I) is left out here, which is very common in Italian. The verb ending in compro already tells us it is the "I" form. You only need to add io if you are emphasizing who is doing the buying.
If pera is a pear, how do you say "pears" in the plural?
Because pera is a regular feminine noun ending in -a, its plural changes the ending to -e. So, "pears" would be pere.

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