Breakdown of Vorrei viaggiare nell'America meridionale.
in
in / made of (material)
volere
to want
viaggiare
to travel
meridionale
southern
l'America
America (f)
Questions & Answers about Vorrei viaggiare nell'America meridionale.
Why is it nell'America instead of just in America?
Normally, you use the preposition in without a definite article for continents, like Vado in America. However, when you add an adjective or specification to the continent (in this case, meridionale), the definite article is required. The preposition in merges with the article l' to become the articulated preposition nell'.
Could I say nel Sud America instead of nell'America meridionale?
Yes! Both mean South America. America meridionale uses the geographical adjective meridionale (southern) and is slightly more formal. Sud America is very common in everyday language. Notice that because Sud specifies the region, the rule still applies and you must use the article, making it nel Sud America.
Why does the adjective meridionale come after the noun here?
In Italian, classifying and geographical adjectives almost always follow the noun they modify. Words like meridionale (southern), settentrionale (northern), occidentale (western), and orientale (eastern) define a specific category or region, so they naturally go after the noun.
I often get confused about prepositions before infinitives. Why is there no preposition between vorrei and viaggiare?
Vorrei comes from volere (to want), which is a modal verb. Modal verbs like volere, potere (can/to be able to), and dovere (must/to have to) attach directly to the infinitive verb that follows them. You never need to link them with prepositions like a or di.
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