ELONIO
Log inSign up

Stavo pilotando il mio drone al di sopra degli alberi.

Stavo pilotando il mio drone al di sopra degli alberi.
I was piloting my drone above the trees.
From Lesson 435:Complex spatial prepositions (al di)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Stavo pilotando il mio drone al di sopra degli alberi.

Why use al di sopra degli alberi instead of just sopra gli alberi?
Both mean "above the trees," but al di sopra di is slightly more formal and places a stronger emphasis on the physical, three-dimensional space. While sopra is perfectly fine for everyday use, al di sopra di highlights that the drone was strictly in the airspace higher than the trees.
Where exactly does the degli come from in this sentence?
The complex preposition is al di sopra di. Because the next word requires the masculine plural definite article gli (since alberi is a plural noun starting with a vowel), the di from the preposition is forced to combine with gli to form the articulated preposition degli.
Is it ever okay to leave them separate and say al di sopra di gli alberi?
No. In Italian, whenever the preposition di meets a definite article, they must contract into a single combined word. Leaving them separate as di gli is grammatically incorrect.
Why use the continuous tense stavo pilotando here instead of the regular imperfect pilotavo?
While both can translate to "I was piloting," stavo pilotando (the past continuous using stare + gerund) sharply focuses on the action being actively in progress at that exact moment in the past. Pilotavo is more general and could also mean "I used to pilot" as a past habit.

Learn Stavo pilotando il mio drone al di sopra degli alberi and more in Italian

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning Italian →