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Essential Italian Grammar – Prepositions

Prepositions are like links in a chain; they bind other words in a sentence together, particularly referring to the spatial relationship of nouns. In English, just a few prepositions do the bulk of the "work" when it comes to describing the positional relationship of nouns and pronoun.

Let's take a look at some of the most-used prepositions in Italian:

Meaning of the prepositions and use with the articles:

1. The prepositions in and a

The preposition in usually means in.

It is used to indicate:

• Direction (to) when linked to countries, regions, continents, big islands, bank, mountain, library or church.
• Vai in Francia? – Are you going to France?
• periods of the year, like seasons, months, years (in, during)
• In estate. – in summer.
• Means of transporting
• Vado in treno. – I go by train.

The preposition a means at.

It is used to indicate:

• Direction (to) when linked to cities or little islands.
• Tornate a Parigi? – Do you go back to Paris?
• Destination (to)
• Ho scritto una lettera a Maria. – I wrote a letter to Maria.
• Time (at)
• Alle 7. – At 7.00 a.m.
• To give to a substantive an adverbial or adjectival meaning.
• Il maglione a righe. – The striped pullover.
• Before the infinitive
• Andiamo a ballare.– We go to dance.

In front of the definitive articles, in and a take the following forms:

	il	lo	l'	la	i	gli	le
in	nel	nello	nell'	nella	nei	negli	nelle
a	al	allo	all'	alla	ai	agli	alle




Example:
Luigi guarda in + la bottiglia > Luigi guarda nella bottiglia. – Luigi looks in the bottle.
Io vado a + il cinema > io vado al cinema. – I am going to the cinema.





2. The prepositions di and da

The preposition di usually means of.

It is also used to indicate:

• Direction (from) when following the verb essere
• Io sono di Milano. – I am from Milan.

• Time with words indicating parts of the day or days of the week.
• Di notte. – At night.
• Materials
• La maglietta di cotone. – The cotton shirt.
• Argument (about) with verbs as parlare (to talk), trattare (to treat), discutere (to discuss).
• Giorgio discute sempre di politica. – Giorgio discusses always about politics.

The preposition da means from, since or by.

It is also used to indicate:

• Sirection (to) when linked to people or worker
• Vado dal macellaio. – I go to the butcher.
• Ma Vado in macelleria. – I go to the butchery.

• The aim of an object:
• Occhiali da sole. – Sunglasses .

In front of the definitive articles, di and da take the following forms:

Example:
Io sono il figlio di + il signor Rossi > Io sono il figlio del signor Rossi. – I am Mr.Rossi's son.
Io vengo da + la campagna > Io vengo dalla campagna. – I am coming from the country.

3. The prepositions con, per, tra/fra, su

The preposition con means with.

• Esco con Paola. – I go out with Paola.
• Pago con la carta di credito. – I pay with the credit card.

The preposition per means for.

• Questo regalo è per te. – This present is for you.
• La camera è per due notti. – The room is for two nights.

It can also indicate direction linked to the verb partire (to leave) or with means of transporting.

• Parto per Roma. – I leave for Rome.
• Il bus per Milano. – The bus for Milan.

The preposition tra/fra means between (place) or within/in (time).

• La banca è tra la scuola e il bar. – The bank is between the school and the bar.
• Mi sposo tra due anni. – I get married in two years.

There are no differences between tra and fra; it is just a stylistic choice depending on the speaker's taste.

The preposition su means on or about.

• La bottiglia è sul tavolo. – The bottle is on the table.
• Il libro su Machiavelli è molto interessante. – The book about Machiavelli is very interesting.

NB As we said before, the preposition di can also means  about. Take care about the context:

• Il libro di Machiavelli è sulla politica. – Machiavelli's book is about Politics.
• Il libro di Machiavelli parla di politica. – Machiavelli's book talks about Politics.

In front of the definitive articles, su takes the following forms:

Example:
Il rifugio si trova su + la montagna. > Il rifugio si trova sulla montagna. – The shelter is on the mountain.