Learn some of the differences between the prepositions da and di
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Intro |
|---|
| Michael: What's the difference between the prepositions da and di? |
| Ofelia: And how do I know which one to use? |
| Michael: At ItalianPod101.com, we hear these questions often. Let's consider the following situation. Ben Lee has just met Mia Martin, another international student, at the university cafeteria. When talking about his hometown he says, |
| "I am from New York." |
| Ben Lee: Sono di New York. |
| Dialogue |
| Ben Lee: Sono di New York. |
| Mia Martin: Vengo da Sydney. |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Ben Lee: Sono di New York. |
| Michael: "I am from New York." |
| Mia Martin: Vengo da Sydney. |
| Michael: "I come from Sydney." |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: Many students have noticed that the prepositions da and di have multiple functions and meanings, and sometimes it's not easy to choose the right one. In some cases, both can be translated as "from" in English, but they're not interchangeable in Italian. Let's see the difference. |
| Ofelia: Di |
| Michael: usually specifies a feature or the origin of something. It's often paired with the verb |
| Ofelia: essere |
| Michael: "to be." |
| Ofelia: Da |
| Michael: usually indicates movement from somewhere. |
| [RECALL-1] |
| Michael: Let's take a closer look at the dialogue. Do you remember how Ben Lee said, |
| "I am from New York"? |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Ben Lee: Sono di New York |
| Michael: Here, Ben used the preposition |
| Ofelia: di |
| Michael: It's because he's talking about his hometown—where he originates from. But be careful, because you can't use this preposition with a country or a region name. Only town, city or village names. |
| [RECALL-2] |
| Michael: Now let's take a look at our second sentence. Do you remember how Mia Martin said, "I come from Sydney"? |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Mia Martin: Vengo da Sydney. |
| Michael: Here, the verb clearly indicates movement from a certain place, so you need to use the preposition |
| Ofelia: da. |
| Michael: When describing where you're from in terms of movement, you can pair this preposition with any place name—as long as the verb describes movement. |
| In some cases, however, you might need to use a compound preposition. |
| [SUMMARY] |
| Michael: Let's look at some examples. Our first example is |
| Ofelia: Vengo dal Canada. (enunciated). |
| Vengo dal Canada. |
| Michael: "I come from Canada." This sentence uses the compound preposition, |
| Ofelia: dal |
| Michael: In this case, the preposition |
| Ofelia: da |
| Michael: is paired with the definite article |
| Ofelia: il |
| Michael: All together, we have |
| Ofelia: Vengo dal Canada. |
| Michael: Here, where she's from is expressed with a place name, and the verb used indicates movement, so the correct preposition to use is |
| Ofelia: da |
| Michael: Notice also that most country names in Italian take a definite article. This is why dal was used when talking about the country of Canada, whereas da was used when talking about the city of Sydney. |
| Michael: The next example is |
| Ofelia: Sono di Toronto. (enunciated). |
| Sono di Toronto. |
| Michael: "I'm from Toronto." This sentence uses the preposition, |
| Ofelia: di |
| Ofelia: Sono di Toronto. |
| Michael: In this example, the place of origin is expressed with a city name, and we have the verb "to be"—which doesn't indicate movement, so the correct preposition is |
| Ofelia: di. |
| Expansion/Contrast |
| Michael: Many English speakers make mistakes when they directly translate a sentence like "I'm from Canada" into Italian. |
| Michael: One way to avoid making this mistake is to remember that the phrase |
| Ofelia: Sono di |
| Michael: which literally means "I'm of" or "I'm from," can't be paired with country, region or continent names. Another way to avoid this mistake is to express your nationality with an adjective. For example, |
| Ofelia: Sono canadese. |
| Michael: which means "I'm Canadian." |
| Practice Section |
| Michael: Let's review. Respond to the prompts by speaking aloud. Then repeat after the native speaker, focusing on pronunciation. |
| Do you remember how Ben Lee said, |
| "I'm from New York"? |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Ofelia as Ben Lee: Sono di New York. |
| Michael: Listen again and repeat. |
| Ofelia as Ben Lee: Sono di New York. |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Ofelia as Ben Lee: Sono di New York. |
| Michael: And do you remember how Mia Martin said, |
| "I come from Sydney"? |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Ofelia as Mia Martin: Vengo da Sydney. |
| Michael: Listen again and repeat. |
| Ofelia as Mia Martin: Vengo da Sydney. |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Ofelia as Mia Martin: Vengo da Sydney. |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| Ofelia: A presto! |
| Michael: "See you soon!" |
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