The Preposition in
The Italian preposition in can mean “in,” “to,” or “by.” It is used to express a location or a destination, to describe means of transportation, and to express a date. The preposition in is used to express location or destination with countries, continents, regions, large islands, and addresses.
Vado in Italia. |
I am going to Italy. |
Vado nella Sicilia. |
I am going to Sicily. |
Roma è in Italia. |
Rome is in Italy. |
Mario abita in via Veneto, a Milano. |
Mario lives on Veneto Street in Milan. |
The preposition in is used to describe a means of transportation.
Table 9-9
Italian |
English |
in macchina |
by car |
in aereo |
by plane |
in moto |
by scooter |
in bicicletta |
by bicycle |
in barca |
by boat |
in treno |
by train |
in autobus |
by bus |
in pullman |
by coach |
The preposition in is used with common expressions that refer to rooms or places.
With nouns that refer to rooms of the house, such as salotto, cucina, and sala da pranzo, an article is usually not used with the preposition in. For example: Mangiano in sala da pranzo, non in cucina. (They eat in the dining room, not in the kitchen.)
Table 9-10
Italian |
English |
in biblioteca |
in the library |
in camera |
in the bedroom |
in campagna |
in the countryside |
in centro |
downtown, in the center of town |
in chiesa |
in the church |
in città |
in the city |
in giardino |
in the garden |
in montagna |
in the mountains |
in paese |
in town |
in salotto |
in the living room |
The preposition nel (in+il) is used to express the year.
Matteo è nato nel 2007. |
Matteo was born in 2007. |
Elena è nata nel 1975. |
Elena was born in 1975. |
