We have talked about the prepositions in and a separately in previous lessons. Let's finally talk about when to use the preposition in and when to use a when referring to places like cities, countries, continents, regions, etc. This is tricky for lots of us, and it's easy to make mistakes.
If you are subscribed to Yabla, you will want to check out these two lessons on this topic:
We generally use the preposition a (to, at) with names of cities and minor islands.
Bologna is a city, so we use a.
Perché è partito da Roma ed è arrivato qui a Bologna.
Because it left from Rome and it arrived here in Bologna.
Caption 17, Marika spiega - I verbi venire e andare
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Per esempio: quando vai a Bologna?
For example: "When are you going to Bologna?"
Caption 26, Marika spiega - La particella CI
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In Toscana, come in altre regioni d'Italia,
In Tuscany, as in other regions of Italy,
molte famiglie hanno degli ulivi di loro proprietà.
many families have olive trees of their own.
Captions 1-2, L'olio extravergine di oliva - Il frantoio
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Valdobbiadene è in Veneto.
Valdobbiadene is in the Veneto region.
Caption 13, Corso di italiano con Daniela - L'aperitivo
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Africa is a continent, so we use in
.
Vorrei tanto andare in Africa.
I would very much like to go to Africa.
Caption 6, Marika spiega- Le preposizioni di luogo
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Canada is a country, so we use in.
Nicole Kidman è venuta una volta a provare,
Nicole Kidman came once for a fitting,
poi altre due volte siamo andati noi in Canada.
then we went two more times to Canada.
Captions 31-32, That's Italy - Episode 2 - Part 4
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Sometimes a city and a state or country will have the same name, so it can get confusing.
La città di New York è nello stato di New York (New York City is in New York State).
So If I am planning to go on vacation to visit New York City, I might say:
Vado a New York per le vacanze di Natale (I'm going to New York for the Christmas vacation).
In Italian it's clear that I mean the city because I am using a as a preposition, but in English, we have to guess, or specify. New York, in this case, is a city. But New York is also a state. Since it's easy to get confused, Americans will usually specify if they're not talking about the city, and will say New York State. If we translate that into Italian, it will be lo Stato di New York.
Buffalo è in New York (Buffalo is in New York State).
L'empire state building è a New York [City] (The Empire State Building is in New York [City]).
Someone who has family on Long Island will still say New York as if it were the city. The airport is certainly in the city, at least officially. And incidentally, Long Island is a relatively small island, so we would say:
Ho vissuto a Long Island per sedici anni (I lived on Long Island for sixteen years).
Sei mai stato a Parigi (Have you ever been to Paris)?
Sei mai stata in Francia (Have you ever been to France)?
Vivo a Vienna (I live in Vienna).
Un mio cugino è appena andato in Giappone (A cousin of mine just went to Japan) ma non andrà a Tokyo (but he isn't going to Tokyo).
Quasi quasi mi trasferisco in Nuova Zelanda (I might just move to New Zealand).
Da dieci anni vivo a Como, in Lombardia (I've been living in Como, in Lombardy, for ten years).
Arianna ha studiato in Inghilterra per qualche anno (Arianna studied in England for a couple of years).
Since the United States is a coveted destination for Italian tourists, at least in normal times, it's important to know how to refer to that country in Italian, and what prepositions to use.
When we say the name of this country, we include the article "the." The United States of America. So when we use the proper Italian preposition (in since we are talking about a nation), we have to modify it to include the definite article:
Vado negli Stati Uniti [d'America]. (I'm going to the United States [of America]).
The d'America part is usually left out in both Italian and English, and to make it even easier, Italians also often just say America to mean the United States.
Vado in America per le vacanze (I'm going to America for the vacation).
Some Italians use USA as a word and pronounce it as they see it. For example, here is a headline from Google. It may or may not be correct, but you will hear it said plenty of times:
Come trovare un lavoro negli USA (How to find work in the USA)?
Remember that in contrast to English where "in," "to," and "at" are entirely different, Italian uses the same preposition (be it a or in) to mean any or all of these.
Please let us know what cities, countries or other places you are confused about when using Italian prepositions, and we will answer as soon as we can.
Italy is known for its three-course lunches and dinners, but in most cities and towns, there’ll be a more casual type of place where you can get take out, eat at a little table, or mangiare in piedi (eat standing up).
Pizza al taglio (pizza by the slice) is very popular all over Italy, especially in Rome. As Anna explains, prices vary according to size and what’s on the pizza.
Tu scegli il pezzo di pizza, viene pesato,
You choose the piece of pizza, it's weighed,
a seconda del tipo di pizza, ha un prezzo diverso al chilo,
depending on the kind of pizza, it has a varying price per kilo,
e paghi a seconda della grandezza e del peso
and you pay depending on the size and the weight
di pizza che hai scelto.
of the pizza you've chosen.
Captions 79-81, Anna e Marika - Pizza al taglio romana
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You can certainly find pizza al taglio in Tuscany, but in addition, and baked in the same oven, you’ll often see la cecina, made from farina di ceci (chickpea flour). Learn more here. Liguria and Tuscany, as well as Puglia have focaccia, in some areas called schiacciata, which is made with flour, water, oil and yeast, like pizza, and often takes the place of bread. You’ll find it in bakeries, bars, and pizzerie. As a quick snack, Romagna has the piadina, a flat bread made with lard rather than olive oil, which gets filled with cured meats or cheese. Learn more here.
A way for people to get together socially, without having to spend lots of money on dinner, is to have drinks before they go home for dinner: fare or prendere l’aperitivo (to have an aperitif). As we’ll see, aperitivo has different sfumature (shades of meaning).
Prima di andare a cena, quindi verso le sei o le sette,
Before going to have dinner, so, around six or seven o'clock,
gli italiani fanno un aperitivo.
Italians have cocktails.
Captions 1-2, Corso di italiano con Daniela - L'aperitivo
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Adriano, in describing his day, includes an aperitivo, at least on the weekend.
Mi rilasso e mi sfogo con gli amici dopo una lunga giornata di lavoro.
I relax and I let off steam with my friends after a long day of work.
Mi concedo qualche aperitivo e poi anche qualche cocktail alcolico.
I allow myself some aperitifs and then also some cocktails.
Captions 48-51, Adriano - Giornata
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It’s pretty clear that Adriano considers aperitivo in its broader sense, and he uses qualche aperitivo here to mean a few appetizers. For an explanation of how to use qualche, see this previous lesson. For the drink itself, Adriano uses "cocktail.” As with most English words integrated into the Italian language, "cocktail" will remain in the singular no matter how many he has.
While the aperitivo, usually served with patatine (potato chips) or olive (olives), is an established ritual in most parts of Italy, one of the latest trends is the apericena. If you combine aperitivo (drinks) with cena (dinner), you get apericena. What is it? It’s drinks and appetizers, both savory and sweet, that are varied and abundant enough to replace dinner, served buffet style. The apericena exists both in bars about town, offering an alternative to a costly tab in a restaurant, and in homes, making for a relatively low-budget, flexible, and fashionable alternative to a sit-down dinner. It encourages mingling, conversation, and allows for guests to just stop by. These light buffet dinners are becoming more and more popular all over Italy.
All over the world there's a tendency to take foreign words and knowingly or unknowingly give them a meaning different from the original. So, be aware that in bars, the apericena or the aperitivo (depending on how much there is to eat) is sometimes called a “happy hour,” which in Italy is not about discounts on drinks as in the United States, but rather having drinks accompanied by a small buffet of stuzzichini (appetizers) for a fixed, though variable, price. The word for “toothpick” in Italian is stuzzicadenti. Little bite-size appetizers are often served with toothpicks, thus the term stuzzichini. If you travel to Venice, you'll want to check out the Venetian version of stuzzichini: cicchetti.
Learn more here. This is an important tip, given that it’s quite a challenge finding good food at reasonable prices in Venezia.
Buon appetito!
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