The preposition a is often used like “in,” “to” or “at” in English. To indicate possession. — I can write an article in two days. FluentU is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Note that if you’re talking about country origins, it’s more common to use the adjective forms (so you don’t need a preposition): Sono italiano / americano / inglese. So visualize the theater as a point in space; visualize the nightclub as a vast space that you can actually be inside. Italian Preposition Combinations With D a. da + il = dal; da +lo = dallo; da + l’ = dall’ da + la = dalla; da + i =dai; da + gli = dagli; da + le = dalle; Italian Preposition Combinations With D i. di + il = del; di + lo = dello; di + l’ = dell’ di + la = della; di + i + dei; di + gli = degli; di + le … A is often used to say where something is or where it is going to. — It’s Francesca’s accordion. Sono saliti in macchina. Lei è innamorata dell’amore. Questo è il libro di Maria = This is Maria’s book* *In Italian we don’t have the Saxon genitive. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc, or its affiliates. Since most verbs do use prepositions, the list would be too long to entertain, but think of these: Hence, the ubiquity of articulated prepositions. Generally, you don't use articles in front of names of days or months, but sometimes you do—if there is an adjective, for example. — The website is about technology. — I’m Italian / American / English. It combines with the definite articles as follows: di + il = del di + lo = dello di + l’ = dell’ di + la = della di + i = dei di + gli = degli di + le = delle Also, if di is directly followed by a vowel, it must become d’: La borsa d’Agata— Agata’s purse Here are the major uses of di. “At the one, I do the nap.”), È la fisarmonica di Francesca. Prepositions "con", "per", "tra/fra". Di is often needed to explain quantities in Italian where no preposition is necessary in English. A is used with certain descriptions to show what something is like or made of. We also have to be careful, as sometimes English uses prepositions where Italian doesn’t: Lui preferisce nuotare. The first job is to format all of the exercises not yet done, and ideally to find a home for them in one of the existing 54 lessons… Perhaps you’d like to help? You’ll see this especially with food. How to use Italian prepositions. It’s written in Italian only but intended for foreigners and easy enough to follow; more importantly, it has lots of clear practice exercises with prepositions. — The (female) thief entered through the window. So, you say, Vengo alla fine di aprile (I am coming at the end of April), but, Vengo alla fine dell'aprile prossimo (I am coming at the end of next April). Italian prepositions can seem random, wild and unruly. “the player of football”). — I’m going to the doctor’s. Sono soddisfatto dei tuoi progressi. We hate SPAM and promise to keep your email address safe, Sign up for our weekly blog newsletter for a chance to win a free FluentU Plus subscription (value $240), Get regular language learning tips, resources and updates, starting with the "Complete Guide to Foreign Language Immersion" e-book. See this sentence from English to Italian: The articulated prepositions accommodate all the quirks of the simple prepositions. Remember, time is expressed in le ore, even when le ore are not stated ("the two o'clock"). Ascolta questa canzone di Manuel Donayre! Ho dolore alla zona lombare. However, while you do run into coi, cogli, and colla in speaking, as many Italians say con i, con gli, con la, and so on, the written articulation has fallen into disuse almost completely. Generally, articulated prepositions are formed any time a noun following whatever preposition you’re using requires an article. Fra and tra are completely interchangeable prepositions that mean “between” or “among” (that is, it doesn’t matter if there are two or many things). For example, nell'aria; nell'uomo; dell'anima; dell'insegnante; sull'onda. These prepositions are called articulated prepositions, and they are formed when a simple preposition such as di or su precedes and combines with a noun's definite article such as lo or la to form one word that looks like dello or sullo. Prepositions are short words which express conditions, directions, specifications, such as of, over, to, from, etc. That’s because FluentU takes real-world videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons. Andiamo con le biciclette. Of course, if an articulated preposition is followed by a vowel, you can contract. My heroic FluentU editors asked for an overview of the major prepositions all in one place, but for your sanity’s sake, you’ll probably want to spend a study session (or more) separately practicing the uses under each of the sections in this article. — We’re in Catalonia. This post assumes that you already have some familiarity with basic Italian (such as at least the present tense, past tense and some basic vocabulary) and that in particular you understand when to use each of the definite articles (il, lo, la, gli, etc.). Parto dal lavoro alle 19:00. Because Italian nouns get articles most times, you use articulated prepositions most everywhere. 10. In Italian you do use articles in front of the proper names of countries, regions, (American) states, islands, oceans, and seas when they are direct objects (not, for example, with the verbs andare and venire, which are intransitive and followed by indirect objects: Vado in America). If an expression uses a proposition and it is followed by a noun with an article, you articulate the preposition. The other prepositions don't have a tense form, even when matched with the article. The prepositions in, a, su, a, di, dawhen followed by a definite article, combine into one word. — Let’s talk about affairs of the heart. Mose Hayward is the author of a minimalist’s guide to the best travel stuff for Europe. (Lit. — Those are diversions for another day. Da shows origin of movement in most cases, especially when used with the words lontano (far) and partire (to leave), and with more commanding or emphatic statements than one would see with the preposition di above (use 4). — It’s devastating to be among these enemies. Common prepositions in English include in, on, with, to, of and from, and in Italian in, a, di, da, per, con, su, and fra/tra. So, prepositions certainly aren’t the most delightful part of the language to study, but getting them right will help your Italian conversations flow better and keep them moving forward. 4. Andiamo in macchina / in metro / in treno. — It’s very far from my house. The simple Italian preposition di is one among several whose uses are more and more complicated than it seems. È all’università. Una romantica notte d’estate — A romantic summer night. Contrast the uses in this section with the previous section, and as you’re consuming Italian writing and videos, always try to pay attention to which prepositions (and preposition + article combinations) are used when.