Little linking words: a, in, di, da

Cities take a, countries take in

With a city or a town, use a: abito a Roma, arrivo a Firenze. With a country or a region, use in: abito in Italia, lavoro in Toscana. This holds whether you live there, arrive there or are just there.

English says in for both, which is why in Roma is the classic slip. Think of size: big areas (countries, regions) take in, single points on the map (cities and towns) take a.

Saying both? Each place keeps its own preposition: in Italia, a Roma.

Everyday places: in banca… but a casa

Many everyday places take in with no article: in banca, in ufficio, in biblioteca, in farmacia, in centro (in the centre), and rooms like in cucina or in bagno. English often says at the bank or in the kitchen; Italian drops the the.

Two very common places take a instead: a casa (at home, or home) and a scuola (at school). These are fixed habits, so learn them as little chunks. The same chunk works for being there and going there: sono a casa, torno a casa.

When you say which bank or kitchen, the article comes back and joins the preposition: nella cucina della nonna. That’s the next topic.

di: where you’re from, and whose

To say which city someone is from, use essere di: Sono di Napoli (I’m from Naples). The question is Di dove sei? (Where are you from?). Careful: sono a Napoli means you’re in Naples right now. For a country, Italians usually give the nationality instead: sono inglese.

Di also means of, and it’s how Italian says whose. There’s no ’s, so Marco’s suitcase becomes la valigia di Marco: the suitcase of Marco.

Turn every ’s around: Anna’s phone → il telefono di Anna.

da: at someone’s place, and from

Da + a person means at their place (or to their place): Stasera mangio da Marco (Tonight I’m eating at Marco’s). Con Marco would mean with Marco, so you can say both: mangio da Marco con Anna.

Da also means from a starting point: Il treno arriva da Milano. But with sono, where you’re from is always di: sono di Firenze, never sono da Firenze.

A light note for later: with the present tense, da + a stretch of time says how long something has been going on. Studio italiano da un mese means I’ve been studying Italian for a month. English needs have been; Italian keeps the present.

con, per, su, tra/fra

These four are closer to English. Con means with, per means for (a present for someone, or a train for a place), su means on or about, and tra or fra means between. Tra and fra mean exactly the same, so use whichever you like.

When the follows, con, per and tra/fra normally stay separate words: tra il bar e la chiesa. Su is different: like di, a, da and in, it joins with the article (sul tavolo, al bar), which is the next topic.

In questions, the preposition comes first

English often leaves a preposition at the end of a question: Who do you live with? Italian never does. The preposition goes at the very start, right before the question word: Con chi abiti? Di dove sei? Per chi è il regalo?

So when you build a question, think of the preposition the answer would need (abito con Paolo) and put it in front: Con chi abiti?

Common mistakes

• Abito in Roma.Abito a Roma.Cities take a, even where English says in.
• Lavoro a Germania.Lavoro in Germania.Countries and regions take in.
• Sono da Firenze.Sono di Firenze.With sono, where you’re from is di.
• Lavoro a banca.Lavoro in banca.Everyday places like the bank or the office take in, with no article.
• Mangio a Marco.Mangio da Marco.At someone’s place is da + the person.
• la valigia da Marcola valigia di MarcoWhose is di: Italian says the suitcase of Marco.
• Chi abiti con?Con chi abiti?In a question the preposition goes first, never at the end.

The full table

Pick the preposition from what comes after it.

Sono di Roma (I’m from Rome), but abito a Roma (I live in Rome).

Tra and fra mean the same. Pick the one that sounds better.

When the word for the follows, di, a, da, in and su merge with it: that’s the next topic.