"I need a night off from the children."

Translation: Ho bisogno di una notte via dai ragazzi.

[0vFCtrLn]

Q: is a night off = "una notte via" a special idiom, or could you use "una notte libera" instead?

[Curlygirly]

Absolutely

[regretdusoir]

+1 !!

[Aviva914593]

senza bambini is also correct

[PatDoyle7]

Why can't it be 'dai figli'

[PATRICKPIZ1]

it can. 'dai figli', 'dai ragazzi', 'dai bambini'.

[Anne737429]

libera degli bambini...?

[Anne737429]

oops! libera dai bambini - is something like that possible?

[PATRICKPIZ1]

gli is used with words beginning with 'z' or 's+consonant' plurals. all other masculine nouns take 'i' (dei)
here is a page on articles. http://www.uvm.edu/~cmazzoni/3grammatica/grammatica/prepositions.html 'da' is the correct preposition.

[crollyanne]

Why do we need 'Ho' in this sentence please?

[Katiecoos]

Ho bisogno = I need.

[Zaza24179]

Lit. I have need of

[Joe239113]

Know how you feel!