Learn the difference between the prepositions "in" and "a"
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Intro |
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| Hi everybody! Marika here. Welcome to Ask a Teacher, where I’ll answer some of your most common Italian questions. |
| The Question |
| The question for this lesson is: What's the difference between in and a? |
| Explanation |
| In and a are two Italian prepositions. While each preposition has its own function, sometimes it’s not easy to tell w hich one to use. In fact, both in and a can indicate place, but when should I use one instead of the other? |
| The first point you should remember is that a is used before the name of a city, town, or small island. In, on the other hand, is used in front of continents, states, nations, reg ions, and larger islands. So you’d say... |
| A Roma |
| A New York |
| A Cipro |
| But you’d say... |
| In Italia |
| In Europa |
| In Sicilia |
| We use in before the name of a street or square. |
| Abito in via del Corso. |
| “I live in via del Corso.” |
| Incontriamoci in piazza del Plebiscito. |
| “Let’s meet in Plebiscito Square.” |
| We also use in with the names of shops. |
| L’ho comprato in farmacia. |
| “I bought it at the drugstore.” |
| Sono in pasticceria. |
| “I’m at the cake shop.” |
| Sto andando in edicola. |
| “I’m going to the newsstand.” |
| Besides these tips, like many other Italian grammar points, there are no fixed rules, but here’s a list of expressions using in or a, so you can start getting used to them. |
| Sono: a scuola, a casa, a letto, a teatro, al cinema, al mare. |
| “I am: at school, at home, in bed, at the theater, at the cinema, at the seaside.” |
| Sono: in banca, in chiesa, in classe, in montagna, in città, in ufficio, in biblioteca. |
| “I am: at the bank, at church, in the class, in the mountains, in the city, in the office, at the library.” |
Outro |
| Pretty interesting, right? |
| If you have any more questions, please leave a comment below! |
| A presto! “See you soon!” |
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