Breakdown of Mio fratello è sposato da dieci anni.
il fratello
the brother
l'anno
the year (m)
sposato
married
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Questions & Answers about Mio fratello è sposato da dieci anni.
Why is there no article before mio fratello? Shouldn't possessives usually have one, like il mio cane?
In Italian, you drop the definite article (like il or la) when using a possessive adjective with a singular, unmodified family member. That is why it is just mio fratello instead of il mio fratello. If the family member were plural (i miei fratelli), modified (il mio fratellino), or used with loro (il loro fratello), the article would return.
The English translation says 'has been married'. Why does the Italian sentence use the present tense è?
When a state started in the past and is still ongoing, Italian uses the present tense combined with da. Because he is still married now, Italian literally says he 'is married since ten years'. Using a past tense like è stato sposato would imply the marriage is over.
Why do we use da here instead of per for 'for ten years'?
Could I use avere instead of essere here, like ha sposato?