Italian All-in-One For Dummies (119 page)

For states, countries, and big islands, use
in
(
in
):
in Italia
(
in/to Italy
);
negli Stati Uniti
(
in/to the United States
).

When you say you're
in
or are getting
on
a means of transportation, use
in
(
in; into
) + noun (with or without the article) or
su
(
on; onto
):
in macchina
(
in/inside/into the car
);
nel treno
(
in/into the train
);
sull'aereo
(
on/onto the plane
);
sul treno
(
on/onto the train
).

For volumes, use
in
(
in; into
) + noun followed by the article or not:
nel cielo
(
in the sky
);
in aria
(
in the air
).

For small islands, which can also be countries, use
a
(
in; to; on
):
a Capri
(
in/to Capri; on the Isle of Capri
);
a Long Island
(
on/to Long Island
);
all'isola d'Elba
(
on Elba Island
).

For large islands, use
in
(
in; to
):
in Sicilia
(
in/to Sicily
);
in Gran Bretagna
(
in/to Great Britain
).

For physical place, use
in
+ article:
nell'ufficio del dottore
(
in/into the doctor's office
);
nella mia cartella
(
in/into my briefcase
).

For expressing
above/over
and
under,
use
su
/
sopra
and
sotto
+ article:
su/sopra il tavolo
(
on/over the table
);
sotto il tavolo
(
under the table
);
sottoterra
(
underground
).

Whether there's physical contact isn't important when choosing between
su
and
sopra,
for example,
L'aereo vola sulla/sopra la città
(
The plane is flying over the city
).

For expressing
in front of
and
behind,
use
davanti
/
davanti a
(you can use them interchangeably, however,
davanti a
is the correct standard Italian) and
dietro
/
dietro a/di
(use
dietro a
for figurative meaning and
dietro di
before disjunctive pronouns):
Siamo davanti a San Pietro
(
We're standing in front of St. Peter's
);
Il melo è dietro la casa
(
The apple tree is behind the house
);
Va dietro a ogni moda
(
She/he goes after any fashion
);
La macchina è dietro di te
(
The car is behind you
).

From, through, across, and among

To convey origin, motion through, and separation, you use the following prepositions, depending on what you're discussing:

For conveying someone's origin and being born into a certain family, use
essere
+
di
(
to be from
):
Sono di Venezia
(
They're from Venice
);
Maria è di buona famiglia
(
Maria comes from a well-to-do family
).

For motion from, origin, distance, and movement out of containers/elements, use
da
(
from; out of
):
La neve cade dal cielo
(
The snow falls from the sky
);
Ha tolto il cellulare dalla borsa
(
She took the mobile phone out of her bag
).