When to use it
Use it in a new city to ask how taxis work there: by phone, with an app or at a taxi rank.
The sentence in English — “How do you get a taxi here?”
"How do you get a taxi here?" uses a general "you". "Do" makes the question, and "get" here means take or find. "Here" goes at the end.
- How
- adverbquestion word asking about the way or manner
- do
- auxiliary verbdo · tense: present · auxiliary that makes the question
- you
- pronounpersonal pronoun used for people in general
- get
- verbget · form: base form (infinitive without "to") · here it means "take" or "find"
- a
- determinerindefinite article
- taxi
- nounnoun
- here
- adverbadverb of place
The sentence in Italian — “Come si fa a prendere un taxi qui?”
"Come si fa a prendere un taxi qui?" literally says "how does one do to take a taxi here". "Si fa" is impersonal, "a" links to the infinitive "prendere", and "qui" means here.
- Come
- adverbquestion adverb: "how"
- si
- pronounimpersonal pronoun: "one", "you" in general
- fa
- verbfare · tense: present · mood: indicative · person: third · number: singular · "does"; "come si fa a…" means "how do you…"
- a
- prepositionpreposition linking to the next verb
- prendere
- verbprendere · form: infinitive · "to take"
- un
- determinerindefinite article, masculine: "a"
- taxi
- nounmasculine noun: "taxi"
- qui
- adverbadverb of place: "here"
English × Italian — What changes from one language to the other
English uses the light verb "get"; Italian uses the expression "come si fa a…" with "prendere" (take). The impersonal "si" in Italian matches the general "you" in English.
Example conversation
— Come si fa a prendere un taxi qui?
— How do you get a taxi here?
— C'è un posteggio dei taxi fuori dalla stazione.
— There's a taxi rank outside the station.