Italian 路 Chapter 4 路 Lesson 14 路 Grammar primer
Prepositions: di, a, da, in, con, su, per, tra
Eight small words carry an enormous share of Italian, and half the work is noticing where Italian uses one and English does not.
The short version
Cities take a, countries take in
English says in London and in America. Italian splits them by size: cities and towns take a, countries, regions and continents take in. Both prepositions also cover motion, so the same word means in and to. Home is always a casa.
Vivo a Londra, ma vado in America.
Aspettare already means wait for
Four everyday verbs carry their English preposition inside them: aspettare (wait for), cercare (look for), ascoltare (listen to) and guardare (look at). They take a direct object, so adding per or a is wrong. Learn each verb with its preposition, or lack of one, as a unit.
Aspetto il treno.
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