A theoretical and practical Italian grammar - National Library of ...

6 PREPOSITIONS.
found a silk purse.—Woollen stockings. — A mother's
trovato una seta [S) borsa. lana calze.
love.—The town of Edinburgh.— A vase of
una madre {1)
rose-leaves.
Vamore. La città (6) un vaso rose (4) foglie.
I write always with a steel-pen.— Where have you put
scrivo semj)re con una acciaio (3) penna Dove messo
my brother's Grammar ?— (We wish) to read your aunt's
fratello [I) Grammatica ? Desideriamo [b) zia
letter.
IMPERFECT.
Io era^ "1 Io aveva,
tu eri, I tu avevi, i
ella era, ^ ella aveva, or avea, i-t
noi eravamo, ^ noi avevamo, ^
voi eravate, 'l voi avevate, P
elletìo erario, J elleno avevano, or I
aveano, J
7. The pronoun it is not generally translated before the verb
essere, and the verb must agree with the noun or pronoun to
which it relates. Ex.
Sono io, It is I.
I
A, to, at.
Slete voi, It is you.
8. The prepositions to, at, are translated in Italian by a. Ex.
Verso la fine della primavera andremo
a Londra,
Domani non sard a casa.
Nostra cugina è a scuola,
1
—
Towards the end of spring we wil'
go to London.
I shall not bo at home to-morrow.
Our cousin is at school.
9. .4 is used instead of di before infinitives, which are go-
verned by verbs of motion. Ex.
Venite a desinare con me.
Corsero a difendere i loro amici,
A ndiamo a vedere il medico,
Come and dine with me.
They ran to defend their friends.
Let us go see the doctor.
10. Before words beginning with a vowel, the preposition a
may receive a d, especially before a. Ex.
Enli ha studiato ad or a Oxford, I He has studied at Oxford.
Non ho parlato ad altri, \ I have not spoken to others.