Today’s article is about… *drum roll* le preposizioni articolate in Italian! I know that some of you will close this article straight away as prepositions are not easy at all in any language (I am still struggling with the English prepositions 😉 ). But if you keep reading I will make sure that the preposizioni articolate won’t be a problem anymore!
I have previously talked about the Preposizioni Semplici, have you read the article? It’s very important, if you’ve decided to learn the Preposizioni Articolate, that you have the Simple Prepositions clear in your mind. So I recommend you to read and study the Preposizioni Semplici and come back here when you’re done.
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Preposizioni articolate
In Italian there are these tricky prepositions called “articolate” which are the results of the union between Simple Prepositions and Articoli Determinativi as you can see from the table below:
To know what preposizione articolata we have to use, we should think:
WHAT ARTICLE SHOULD I USE IN FRONT OF THIS NOUN?
Example with the simple preposition DI:
- if I say IL CANE (the dog), the preposizione articolata will be DEL cane because cane in Italian is a masculine, singular noun.
- If I say GLI STUDENTI (the students), the preposizione articolata in Italian will be DEGLI studenti because studenti in Italian is a masculine, plural noun.
- If I say LA CASA (the house/home), the preposizione articolata in Italian will be DELLA casa because casa in Italian is a feminine, singular noun.
- If I say LE MAMME (the mums), the preposizione articolata in Italian will be DELLE mamme because mamme in Italian is a feminine, plural noun.
Try to do the same with the preposizione semplice A:
- If I say IL SUPERMERCATO (the supermarket) the preposizione articolata in Italian will be ___ supermercato because supermercato in Italian is a masculine, singular noun.
Try with the preposizione semplice DA:
- If I say LA FINE (the end) the preposizione articolata in Italian will be ___ fine because fine in Italian is a feminine, singular noun.
Try with the preposizione semplice IN:
- If I say GLI STUDI (the studies) the preposizione articolata in Italian will be ___ studi because studi in Italian is a masculine, plural noun.
Try with the preposizione semplice SU:
- If I say LE STRADE (the streets) the preposizione articolata in Italian will be ___ strade because strade in Italian is a feminine, plural noun.
Try this exercise and let me know in the comments! 🙂
Preposizioni improprie
The preposizioni improprie are words used as prepositions but that can also be adverbs and adjectives.
Adverbs
Such as: sopra, sotto, davanti, dietro, dentro,fuori, dopo, prima.
Vado sopra (I go upstairs). – In this case sopra is an adverb.
La penna è sopra il tavolo (The pen is on the table) – In this case sopra is a preposition as we could also say “La penna è SUL tavolo” and connects the pen to the table.
Adjectives
Such as: vicino, lontano, salvo, lungo, secondo.
Questo film è molto lungo (This film is very long) – In this case lungo is an adjective.
La mia casa si trova lungo la strada principale (My house is located along the main road) – In this case lungo is a preposition and connects the verb si trova to the strada principale.
I know this wasn’t an easy lesson, you might want to come back to it tomorrow and study again but I am sure that the preposizioni articolate will be clear very soon! Did you like this article? Did you find it helpful? Let me know in the comments below! 🙂
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A presto,
Irene 
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