“He had no trouble in finding the place”.
Do you think the “nel” is necessary here? Or would you use “in”?
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I think it should be “a trovare.” From my favorite grammar book, “aver difficoltà a” followed by an infinitive is translated as “to have difficulty (doing something).”
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Ah yes, I think you’re spot on! Many thanks @DurhamBull.
Edit: in fact two sentences have just appeared using “a”. Bravo!
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“In” does not work here (at least in modern Italian)
You can use “a trovare” as @DuramBull suggests, or “nel trovare” as in the original sentence, without a change in meaning.
I didn’t know myself why you have to use the “preposizione articolata” in case of “in”, but I have found a relevant discussion:
Apparently, it was possible to use the “preposizione semplice” “in” in the past.
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