It’s Professor Dave, let’s talk prepositions.
In Italian there are words called preposizioni articolate.
These are combinations of simple prepositions and articles.
First, let’s clarify what a preposition is.
A preposition is a part of speech that describes a relationship between a noun and some other
element in the sentence.
They indicate a variety of ideas like distance, origin, purpose, and possession.
For example, I am going to Colorado.
She works for me.
They come from Europe.
So now that you’ve got a good idea what a preposition is, let’s learn the most common
Italian prepositions.
A means to, or at, or in.
Di means of.
Da means from.
Su means on or over.
And in means in.
These are all examples of prepositions being used without articles.
But Italian uses articles so often, these prepositions can also combine and contract
with the article to form preposizioni articolate.
These forms will need to be memorized.
On the top we place the articles le, il, lo, L with an apostrophe, la, i, and gli.
On the left we place the prepositions a, da, di, su, and in.
Let’s push the prepositions across each row to see how they combine with the various
articles.
Let’s use some of these in sentences for context.
Some of these prepositions may already be familiar if you like eating at Italian restaurants.
In all of these cases, the prepositions mean with, as they tell you what’s in or on the dish.
Now that we know how these prepositions work, let’s check comprehension.