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This is the sentence I would like to say in Italian: "He does not come from the United States" (formal). I think it is:

Lui non viene dagli Stati Uniti.

What is the correct word for from in this instance? I know it has to be plural, I think because of the plural 'Stati', but I am at sea, here! Is it one of these, or something else? Why?

  • dagli
  • delle
  • dalle
mrnld
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Msfolly
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  • Welcome to Italian.SE, @Msfolly! – Charo Jan 06 '16 at 19:59
  • To be more formal I'd use Egli instead of Lui or also, if the context permits it, Questi (You need an introductive sentence as in Il Sig. Bianchi è stato fermato al varco bagagli. Questi non viene dagli Stati Uniti – N74 Jan 07 '16 at 14:32
  • Thank you for all the information. That was very helpful! Is there anything else I need to do, now? – Msfolly Jan 07 '16 at 22:48
  • To accept an answer you have to click on the check mark that is beside the answer. – Charo Jan 09 '16 at 07:40

2 Answers2

8

"Lui non viene dagli Stati Uniti" is correct.

"Da" can be combined with each of the 6 forms of the article "the":

  • "da" + "lo" -> "dallo" (M, S, used when the next word starts with a vowel, z-, x-, y-, pt-, gn-, pn- or the so called "s impura", which is s+consonant)
  • "da" + "il" -> "dal" (masculine, singular, used in the remaining cases)
  • "da" + "la" -> "dalla" (feminine, S)
  • "da" + "gli" -> "dagli" (M, P, used as "lo")
  • "da" + "i" -> "dai" (M, plural, used as "il")
  • "da" + "le" -> "dalle" (F, P)

Indeed, "Stati" is plural, masculine (most of the nouns ending in -i are masculine and plural) and starts with "s" + consonant, hence we use "dagli".

Paolo Franchi
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6

Lui non viene dagli Stati Uniti.

is the right option, as you wrote. Here using dagli is correct since the compound preposition is followed by a plural and masculine noun, Stati.

  • Delle is not appropriate: the preposition di can be used to specify a provenience, but mainly if followed by the name of a city, e.g.:

    Sono di Napoli (I'm from Naples);

  • dalle must be followed by a feminine and plural noun:

    Lui non viene dalle Azzorre (He does not come from the Azores).

mrnld
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