Breakdown of Roma, capitale d'Italia, cambia anno dopo anno.
l'anno
the year (m)
di
of, from
Roma
Rome
l'Italia
Italy (f)
Questions & Answers about Roma, capitale d'Italia, cambia anno dopo anno.
Why doesn't capitale have the definite article la in front of it?
In Italian, when a noun phrase is placed directly next to a proper noun to define or describe it (a structure called an apposition), the definite article is omitted. While in English you say "Rome, the capital", in Italian it must be Roma, capitale....
Why is it d'Italia and not dell'Italia? Don't country names usually require a definite article?
Yes, country names usually take the definite article (like l'Italia). However, when an unmodified singular country name directly follows the preposition di, the article is almost always dropped. If the country name were modified by an adjective or phrase, the article would return (for example, la capitale dell'Italia meridionale).
Could I say cambia di anno in anno instead of anno dopo anno?
Why isn't capitale capitalized here?
Unlike English, where titles and significant geographic descriptors are sometimes capitalized, Italian is much more conservative with capital letters. Only the proper city noun Roma and the country Italia are capitalized in this phrase.