Voted Best Answer
Jul 31, 2023 - 04:00 PM
Preposition rules in Italian are pretty maddening- but it looks like you're getting the idea on most of them. Here are a few quick tips:
PER equates to TO/FOR when used as a preposition so if you're buying a ticket for a flight to Rome it's a biglietto PER Roma (similar to in English)
IN
- Geographic destinations, IN is used like "To" to refer to broader areas like continents, countries, regions and (believe it or not) large islands like Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica (Note: these locations also use articles (e.g; Il Canada, Gli Stati Uniti, La Sicilia- but those articles are dropped when preceded by the preposition IN)
- Specific destinations: IN is also used like 'To" for some destinations like the office (In ufficio), the beach (in spiaggia) or vacation (in vacanza)
- Modes of transport: Finally IN is used like "By" to describe travel by most mechanized modes of transport: By train (in treno), by car (in macchina), by bus (in autobus/pullman), by bicicle (in bicicletta)
A - Geographic destinations, A is used like "To" to refer to small geographic areas, typically cities and small islands like Hawaii. Note: Cities don't use articles.
- Specific destinations: A is also used like 'To" for some destinations like the school (e.g: Vado a scuola, Vado alla banca, Vado al bancomat)
- Modes of transport: A is used like "By" to describe travel by some non-mechanized modes of transport By foot (A piedi), by horse (a cavallo) etc.
You start out thinking you'll never be able to memorize all of the exceptions, but somehow with enough repetition they start to sink in and come naturally - sort of....
PER equates to TO/FOR when used as a preposition so if you're buying a ticket for a flight to Rome it's a biglietto PER Roma (similar to in English)
IN
- Geographic destinations, IN is used like "To" to refer to broader areas like continents, countries, regions and (believe it or not) large islands like Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica (Note: these locations also use articles (e.g; Il Canada, Gli Stati Uniti, La Sicilia- but those articles are dropped when preceded by the preposition IN)
- Specific destinations: IN is also used like 'To" for some destinations like the office (In ufficio), the beach (in spiaggia) or vacation (in vacanza)
- Modes of transport: Finally IN is used like "By" to describe travel by most mechanized modes of transport: By train (in treno), by car (in macchina), by bus (in autobus/pullman), by bicicle (in bicicletta)
A - Geographic destinations, A is used like "To" to refer to small geographic areas, typically cities and small islands like Hawaii. Note: Cities don't use articles.
- Specific destinations: A is also used like 'To" for some destinations like the school (e.g: Vado a scuola, Vado alla banca, Vado al bancomat)
- Modes of transport: A is used like "By" to describe travel by some non-mechanized modes of transport By foot (A piedi), by horse (a cavallo) etc.
You start out thinking you'll never be able to memorize all of the exceptions, but somehow with enough repetition they start to sink in and come naturally - sort of....
