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How to Say ‘I'm going to the café downstairs.’ in Italian

Vado al bar qui sotto.

VAH-doh ahl bahr kwee SOHT-toh

[VAH-doh ahl bahr kwee SOHT-toh]

Phrase Breakdown

Vado al bar

VAH-doh ahl bahr

I'm going to the café

'Al' is 'a' + 'il'. Stress 'VA' and 'BAR'.

Example

Dopo vado al bar.

Later I'm going to the café.

Words in this phrase

Vado

[VAH-doh]

I go

First person singular form of the verb to go.

Example

Vado a casa.

I am going home.

[ahl]

to the

'Al' is a contraction of 'a' (to) and 'il' (the), often used to indicate flavor or type.

Example

Abbiamo ordinato il gelato al cioccolato.

We ordered the chocolate ice cream.

bar

[bahr]

bar, café

In Italy, a place serving coffee, drinks and snacks.

Example

Ci vediamo al bar.

See you at the bar.

qui sotto.

kwee SOHT-toh

just downstairs

Literally 'here below', meaning downstairs or just below. Hold the double 't': SOT-to.

Example

C'è un negozio qui sotto.

There's a shop just downstairs.

Words in this phrase

qui

[kwee]

here

Indicates this place; useful when talking about the current company or environment.

Example

"Qui" l'ambiente sembra molto collaborativo.

"Here" the environment seems very collaborative.

sotto

[SOHT-toh]

below, downstairs

Means under or below; with 'qui' it means right downstairs.

Example

Il parcheggio è qui sotto.

The parking is right below here.

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