Per andare

Ciao a tutti.,

A little confused with this one. Especially now that i have progressed further into the later lessons and modules 6 etc.

For example in lesson 2.1 getting around:

Per andare alla stazione dei treni? - How do you get to the train station?

and in 2.4 taxi:

Per andare al centro? Going to the city center?

I am a little confused as both sentences start with the same words but two different questions unrelated one is asking "how to get to....", and one is asking someone "if they are going to........"  still using 'Per andare'

Can this be clarified more in depth how this works with Per andare?

 

Hi rigoletto,

The literal translation of Per andare alla stazione dei treni? would sound weird in English: "To get/go to the train station?".
The second example is part of a sentence and we could translate that as "[...] for going to the city centre?".
The first one can be translated as How do you get to the train station?, in Italian [Come si fa] per andare alla stazione dei treni?. The Come si fa part is cut off in the Italian sentence (it is implied), but the same construction doesn't work in English. The you in this sentence is a general you, as in How does one get to the train station?.

Hope this helps!

Lucia

Thanks Lucia, makes sense. 

However, how would one differentiate when being asked the question?

if i wanted to ask someone "Are you going to City? "Per andare al centro"

How would the person i am asking the question to differentiate if im asking if they are going to the city, instead of misconstruing the question for "How do you get to city?"


Does that make sense? Grazie :) 

There is no risk of misinterpretations as the sentence would be much different:
Stai andando in centro? / Vai in centro? Are you going to the city centre?
Come si fa per andare in centro? How does one get to the city centre?

You see, "per andare in centro" is only possible in the second case! :)

Hi Lucia, yes sorry i mixed up myself when asking the questions with another lesson which is why i was confused about per andare. I must have been fatigued a little! :| 

So for example if i was to ask how do you get to The cathedral square? Would I just be asking "per andare alla piazza del duomo?" without come si fa? as you say it is cut off, and implied implied in the sentence?



 

Buonasera rigoletto,

You can either leave it implied, Mi scusi, per andare alla stazione? or use the whole sentence, Mi scusi, come si fa per andare alla stazione?.
If it's an informal situation, you are free to choose as you like. When addressing strangers on the street and asking for information, however, I would use the second sentence as it's a tad more formal. But nobody will hold it against you if you use the other one! Or, as we say, nessuno se la legherà al dito! ("Nobody will tie it to their finger!"). :D

Very helpful as always thanks very much Lucia :)