Dallo

Dallo is a contraction in Italian formed from the preposition da and the definite article lo. It is used before masculine singular nouns that would take the article lo, indicating origin, source, or movement from a place or object. The form da lo becomes dallo, as in phrases where the noun would be introduced by lo.

Typical usage examples include vengo dallo stadio (I come from the stadium), esce dallo zio (he/she leaves from the uncle’s place) or è stato scritto dallo zio (it was written by the uncle). Dallo is therefore part of a broader system of prepositional contractions in Italian, which help link da to nouns with their appropriate definite article.

Contrast with other da contractions: dal (da + il) before masculine singular nouns that take il; dalla (da + la) before feminine singular nouns; dall' (da + l') before nouns starting with a vowel. When the following noun begins with a vowel and would take l’ as the article, the contraction is dall’ (for example dall’acqua, dall’ascensore). Dallo is not used with nouns that require il or la; those contexts use dal or dalla accordingly.

Notes on usage: dalla and dal are used in everyday speech and writing to express origin or movement from a place. Dallo is specifically the form before nouns that would be preceded by lo, including many masculine nouns starting with z, s+consonant, ps, gn, x, or y, as well as some others that require lo. Understanding these contractions helps with natural-sounding Italian in both formal and informal contexts.