Italian grammar · Beginner (A1)
Prepositions with articles: del, al, nel, sul…
How di, a, da, in and su join with the article to make one word, such as al, nel and dalla.
Five prepositions join with “the”
Prepositions are small words like “of”, “to” and “in”. When (of), (to, at), (from), (in) and (on) come before the article, they join into one word: + gives , + gives .
Note that becomes de- and becomes ne-. Forms with , , and double the l.
| Article | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
In use
Other prepositions, such as (with) and (for), normally stay separate: , . with a person means “at someone's place” or “to someone's place”: (I'm going to the doctor's).
- Stasera andiamo al cinema.Tonight we're going to the cinema.
- Le chiavi sono sul tavolo.The keys are on the table.
- Il bagno è in fondo al corridoio.The bathroom is at the end of the corridor.
- Torno dall'ufficio alle sette.I come back from the office at seven.
- Qual è il numero della camera?What's the room number?
- Nel frigo c'è del latte.There's some milk in the fridge.
Places without the article
Many everyday places use or with no article: (at home), (at school), (in bed), (in the centre), (at the office), (at the bank), (at the pharmacy).
Use with towns and cities and with countries and regions: , , .
- Oggi lavoro a casa.Today I'm working at home.
- Vado in banca e poi in farmacia.I'm going to the bank and then to the pharmacy.
- Andiamo a Napoli in treno.We're going to Naples by train.