Italian All-in-One For Dummies (122 page)

For a specified amount of time and continuing action, use
da
(
for
) when referring to the past:
da tre mesi
(
for three months
) or
dal 20 luglio
(
since July 20
). Use
per
(
for
) when referring to the future and a definite amount of time:
per tre mesi
(
for three months
).

Prima di/del
means
before.
It takes
di
before names and pronouns, and it takes
di
+ article before nouns. Here are some examples:

Marisa arriva prima di Silvia/lei.
(
Marisa arrives before Silvia/her.
)

Il treno parte prima dell'autobus.
(
The train is leaving before the bus.
)

Dopo
means
after.
It takes
di
before pronouns and names, but it stands alone when followed by nouns with articles. Here are some examples:

È nato dopo di te.
(
He was born after you.
)

Mario parte dopo la mamma.
(
Mario is leaving after Mother.
)

Purpose and agent of action

Are you giving someone a present? Are you doing a favor to or for someone? Because Italian looks at these actions as conveying metaphorical movement, you use prepositions indicating motion:
a
(
to
) and
per
(
for
).
A
and
per
are often interchangeable, as they are in English. For example,
Compri i regali per i/ai bambini?
(
Are you buying presents for the kids?
)

When you write about body parts, in Italian you often use verbs that require the preposition
a
(
to
) afterward, such as
farsi male a
(
to hurt one's
),
aver male a
(
for something to hurt
), and
operare a
(
to perform surgery on/to
). Therefore, you have no choice but to use that preposition, as in
Lo operano al piede ­sinistro
(
They'll do surgery to his left foot
).

If you use a verb that doesn't require a preposition, such as
rompersi qualcosa
(
to break something
), you add the noun of the organ without any preposition, as in
Maria si è rotta un polso
(
Maria broke a wrist
).

If
you consider somebody responsible for something, or the
agent
of the action, you use
da
(
by
), as in
La
Nona Sinfonia
è stata composta da Beethoven
(
The
Ninth Symphony
was composed by Beethoven
).

Tools, reasons, and causes

In everyday life, you do a lot of things with, well, things. These objects can be means of transportation or tools you use to do something; or maybe they're causes of events or reasons for your actions.

For means of transportation, you use the following prepositions:

in
(
by
) (without the definite article) followed by a noun in the singular (except for objects like
sci
[
skis
], which are used in pairs):
Verranno in macchina
(
They'll come by car
);
Vanno in paese in sci
(
They're going to town by skis
).

con
+ article + noun to convey how one has reached one's destination (rather than the means used): The distinction is meaningful in English, too, as in this example:
Arriva con l'aereo delle 20
(
She'll arrive on the 8 p.m. flight
). You also use
con
if you add any qualification to the means used, as in
Va in giro con la moto di suo fratello
(
He drives around with his brother's motorbike
).

per
to convey
by/via:
L'ho mandato per posta
(
I sent it by mail
).

con
+ article + noun to talk about the object used to achieve a result:
Mio padre lucida l'automobile con un prodotto speciale
(
My father polishes the car with a special product
).

da
to express a cause with the verb in the passive form:
La casa è stata distrutta dall'incendio
(
The house was destroyed by the fire
).

The most common prepositions conveying causes and reasons are
da, di,
and
per
(
for; out of; with; because of
). As you can see, you have a lot of options in English as well, showing how difficult it is to give specific rules about how to choose among the various options. If possible, memorize expressions by heart when you encounter them. Here are a few:

gridare per la rabbia
(
to shout in anger
)