ITALIAN PREPOSITIONS: A, IN OR DA?

Today we’ll talk about one of the most challenging aspects of Italian grammar, which is how to choose between A, IN, and DA or their corresponding articulated prepositions.

Here’s our complete guide to their meanings and many usage examples.

GENERAL INTRODUCTION

First of all, why is important to learn which preposition to use? Because it’s something you need to use in almost any sentence, and it’s something that immediately elevates your Italian.

To choose which preposition to use, you should look at the following word more than at the corresponding preposition in English.

For example, in English we would say “to”, but in Italian, “to” doesn’t always correspond to “a”:

Let’s now look at each of those prepositions.

A

The preposition “a” is used:

1. Before cities, towns, and small islands:

2. Before meals:

If it’s a specific occasion, you should use articulated prepositions👇🏼

3. Before “destra” (right) and “sinistra” (left):

4. Before verbs in the infinitive form introduced by verbs that require “a”:

5. After the position prepositions “vicino”, “davanti”, “sopra”,”sotto”, “dietro”, “di fianco”

Unless “a” is followed by a personal pronoun or a proper name (as in the example above), you’ll need an articulated preposition👇🏼

6. Pronouns or nouns towards which the action of a verb is directed:

If it’s a specific thing or person, you should use articulated prepositions👇🏼

7. Before many masculine nouns indicating places (in the majority of cases, you’ll need an articulated preposition):

IN

The preposition “in” is used before:

1. Nations, countries, and continents:

Countries that have a plural name (United States, United Arab Emirates…) need the articulated preposition “negli“👇🏼

2. Places ending in -ia (pizzeria, farmacia, cartoleria…):

If it’s a specific place, you need to use an articulated preposition👇🏼

3. Means of transportation:

However, we say “andare a piedi” (to go by foot)

4. Addresses:

5. Rooms and parts of the house:

6. Many feminine nouns indicating places (you’ll need an articulated preposition if it’s a specific place):

7. Months:

8. Time durations, to express how long it takes to do something:

DA

Most of the time, the preposition “da” means “from”:

It’s also used to refer to someone’s house or workplace, meaning “at” or “to”, for example:

EXCEPTIONS

The guidelines listed above can help you; however, exceptions are quite frequent. For example, we say:

Another important thing to notice is that with nouns indicating places that usually require “a”, it’s also usually possible to use “in, nel, nella”… The meaning, however, is different. For example, when we say:

In the sentences above, the focus is on something happening specifically inside the place. Here’s another example:

Now, a final recap!

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