Today we are going to talk about ITALIAN PREPOSITIONS!
Are you ready to learn another topic of Italian grammar? You’re going to add more words to your Italian vocabulary and, of course, you’ll have the opportunity to exercise your Italian pronunciation.
First of all, i’d say that a preposition shows the relationship between a noun or a pronoun and some other word or phrase in the sentence.
In particular, in Italian, prepositions are divided into two groups:
ITALIAN PREPOSITIONS | simple and articulated.
| Italian simple prepositions | DI – A – DA – IN – CON – SU – PER – TRA – FRA |
- Briefly, each of them can express different meanings, let’s give you some examples.
| Examples with DI | Il libro è di italiano / The book is in Italian La borsa è di pelle / The bag is made of leather La penna è di Carlo / The pen is Carlo’s A me non piace andare di fretta / I don’t like to rush Lei è di Roma / She is from Rome |
| Examples with A | Io sono al mercato / I am at the street market Sto andando a casa / I’m going home Ho detto tutto a Luca / I told Luca everything Ad agosto vado al mare / In August I go to the sea |
| Examples with DA | Sono tornata da Milano / I returned from Milan Oggi vado dal dottore / I’m going to the doctor today Lavoro qui da 6 mesi / I’ve been working here for 6 months La canzone è stata scritta da Mogol / The song was written by Mogol Questa è una lampada da tavolo / This is a table lamp i.e. a lamp for the table |
| Examples with IN | Sono in ascensore / I’m in the elevator Lunedì vado in Sardegna / On Monday I’m going to Sardinia Oggi mi sento in forma / Today I feel fit Perché non andiamo in auto? / Why don’t we go by car? In autunno cadono le foglie / In autumn leaves fall |
| Examples with CON | Vado a scuola con te / I go to school with you Con l’auto posso viaggiare più tranquilla / I am more relaxed when I travel by car |
| Examples with SU | La penna è sulla scrivania / The pen is on the desk Ho scritto un libro sulle piante / I wrote a book about plants |
| Examples with PER | Per andare in Germania passo per l’Austria / To go to Germany I pass through Austria Ho dormito per tre ore / I slept for three hours Non mangio per l’ansia / I don’t eat for anxiety |
| Examples with TRA, FRA | L’ufficio è tra il bar e la scuola / The office is between the bar and the school Devi scegliere tra queste due materie / You have to choose between these two subjects Fra un anno sarò a Londra / In a year I’ll be in London Tra di noi non c’è mai stato odio / There has never been any hatred between us |
Well, after this long Italian prepositions list, you can see that an Italian preposition is not simple. Moreover, Italian articulated prepositions are also included in Italian preposition articles but I think that for today we have already fulfilled the need to learn something new in Italian!
Here is a video for an in-depth look at prepositions
Wait wait wait, don’t forget to say DI A DA IN CON SU PER TRA FRA quickly (it can be considered a tongue twister as it is not easy to pronounce all prepositions together. It will be a great pronunciation exercise.) If you succeed at it, then it will mean that your Italian pronunciation is almost perfect!