Itlian prepositions (simple and articulated) A1\A2

You’ve learned the basic rules to make a sentence, now you need to understand how to link each part of a sentence in order to make it ”make sense”. The key to building a correct sentence is using the correct preposition. In this article, you’ll find an overview of prepositions and their main uses. Many other articles will be written about this extensive topic. When it comes to prepositions, these are the main questions:

1. WHAT ARE ITALIAN PREPOSITIONS?
2. THE 10 SIMPLE PREPOSITIONS (HOW TO USE EACH SIMPLE PREPOSITION?)
3. ARTICULATED PREPOSITIONS (CHART) AND WHEN TO USE ARTICULATED PREPOSITIONS?

1 WHAT ARE ITALIAN PREPOSITIONS?

Italian prepositions are short words that give meaning to a sentence; they explicate the relationship of place, cause, possession, purpose and many more between the parts of a sentence.There are different kinds of prepositions :

• Simple prepositions
• Articulated prepositions
• Preposizioni improprie ( you’ll learn them at B2 level or above)

2 THE 10 SIMPLE PREPOSITIONS (HOW TO USE EACH SIMPLE PREPOSITION?)

The simple prepositions are in 10 in total: DI, A, DA, IN, CON, SU, PER, TRA and FRA. (-Tra and -Fra are interchangeable in meaning). Below is a table of Italian simple prepositions and their meanings.

ITALIAN PREPOSITIONS	THEIR MEANING IN ENGLISH
DI	of – from – about – ‘S(possession)
A	to – at – in
DA	from – by – since – for (time)
IN	in – to – by
CON	with
SU	on – about – over – approximately
PER	for – through – because of
TRA\FRA	between – among – in(future time)

How to use each simple preposition:

-DI (of -from -about-‘S)

DI expresses possession, origin, composition, and the topic of conversations.

• POSSESSION \ BELONGING: Il telefono DIGiulia Giulia’s phone

• ORIGIN (used with city names and the verb ESSERE): Sono DIMilano I’m from Milan

• COMPOSITION: Una borsa DI pelle A leather bag

• TOPIC OF CONVERSATIONS: Parliamo DIpolitica We talk about politics

-A (to – at – in)

A is used for destinations (with cities), locations (with cities), and indirect objects. It’s always used before the word CASA.

• DESTINATION \ MOVEMENT (with city names) Vado A Napoli I’m going to Naples

• LOCATION(with cities) Abito A Roma I live in Rome

• INDIRECT OBJECTS Do il libro A Marco I give the book to Marco

• BEFORE ”CASA” : Domani andiamo A casa Tomorrow we’re going home

-DA (from – by – since – for [time])

DA is used for origin, the time span, the agent in passive constructions, and introduces where you are going when the destination is a person.

• FROM(used with the verb VENIRE): Io vengo DA Genova I come from Genoa

• THE TIME SPAN: Studio italiano DA un anno → I’ve been studying for a year Sta dormendo DA ieri → He’s been sleeping since yesterday

• PASSIVE CONSTRUCTIONS: Il dipinto è fatto DA Caravaggio The painting is made by Caravaggio

-IN (in – to – by)

IN is used with countries, regions , continents , some transport means, and the time within which an action is performed.

• COUNTRIES Vivo IN Spagna I live in Spain

• REGIONS: Loro vanno IN Sardegna They go to Sardinia

• CONTINENTS: Laura vive IN Europa Laura lives in Europe

• TRANSPORTS: Viaggio IN treno I travel by train

• THE TIME WITHIN WHICH AN ACTION IS PERFORMED: Arrivo IN cinque minuti I’ll arrive in five minutes

-CON(with)

CON expresses accompaniment, and means.

• ACCOMPANIMENT: Esco CON i miei amici I go out with my friends

• MEANS: Risolvo le equazioni CON la calcolatrice I solve the equations with the calculator

-SU(on – about – over – approximately)

• ON: Il gatto è SUL divano The cat is on the sofa

• ABOUT: Il libro SULLA storia di Roma The book about the history of Rome

• APPROXIMATELY: Costa SUI venti euro It costs about twenty euros

• OVER: L’aereo vola SULLA tua testa The plane flies over your head.

-PER(for – through – because of)

• FOR: Questo è PER te This is for you

• THROUGH: Passo PER Palermo prima di arrivare a casa ” I pass through Palermo before arriving home ”

• ”BECAUSE OF” : Piange PER la gioia She cries for joy (because of joy).

-TRA\FRA(between – among – IN:future time)

• BETWEEN: Il bar è TRA la farmacia e la banca The bar is between the pharmacy and the bank

• AMONG: Sono FRA amici I’m among friends

• IN future time: Torno FRA un’ora I’ll be back in an hour

3 ARTICULATED PREPOSITIONS (CHART) AND WHEN TO USE ARTICULATED PREPOSITIONS?

In Italian, five out of ten prepositions (DI, A, DA, IN, SU) can join with the definite articles (refresh them before you go forward). When a simple preposition joins a definite article, it becomes an ARTICULATED PREPOSITION. Below is an ARTICULATED PREPOSITIONS CHART:

PREPOSITION	ARTICLE il	ARTICLE lo	ARTICLE la	ARTICLEi	ARTICLE gli	ARTICLE le	ARTICLE l’
di	del	dello	della	dei	degli	delle	dell’
a	al	allo	alla	ai	agli	alle	all’
da	dal	dallo	dalla	dai	dagli	dalle	dall’
in	nel	nello	nella	nei	negli	nelle	nell’
su	sul	sullo	sulla	sui	sugli	sulle	sull’

WHEN TO USE ARTICULATED PREPOSITIONS?

We use articulated prepositions before common nouns that require the article. WE DO NOT USE articulated prepositions before pronouns and proper nouns.

Here are some examples of articulated prepositions in use:

La borsa è sul tavolo vicino alla finestra The bag is on the table next to the window

Usciamo alle sette dal cinema We’re leaving the cinema at seven

Parla degli amici di sua sorella He talks about his sister’s friends

Abito nel centro storico di Bologna I live in the historic center of Bologna

EXERCISE: Find the correct preposition and write the answers in the comment section. I’ll correct them as soon as possible.

1 Abito __ Roma → I live in Rome

2 Lei studia __ Italia → She studies in Italy

3 Vengo __ casa adesso → I’m coming home now

4 Vado___(a+il) supermercato → I go to the supermarket

5 Vanno ___(a+lo) stadio domenica → They go to the stadium Sunday

6 Studio italiano __ sei mesi → I’ve been studying Italian for six month

7 Ho un regalo __ te → I have a present for you

8 Il gatto dorme ___(su+il) letto