The prepositions "in" and "a"in Italian | Puntini sulle i

It doesn’t matter if you are a beginner or an expert: using the Italian prepositions “in” and “a” is always a bit confusing, and Italians usually state: “I don’t know why, but it doesn’t sound right.”

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When do we use “in” or “a” in Italian

“In” and “a” are two of the most used prepositions in Italian. In fact, they have a lot of different meanings.

The most widespread meaning is describing the position or the destination of a person or an object. So you can say:

Vado in palestra
Mi trovo al supermercato
Ci vediamo in biblioteca
Faremo l’esame nell’aula 110

In most of the cases, you can use them as you want, but there are few exceptions, which make it sound “strange” according to Italians. It is definitely easier to memorize these few rules to make you talk like a native.

When you need to use the preposition “in”

First of all, you need to consider that the preposition in is a synonym of the word dentro, so you may find it very handy to use this preposition when you are inside a building.

Mi piace lavorare in ufficio, quando sto a casa mi annoio
Solitamente pranzo in mensa
Mi alleno in palestra

However, you can also use the preposition “in” with location that are not properly inside. In this case feminine nouns usually follow the preposition “in”:

Giovanni mette in mostra il proprio talento

You can also add the preposition “in” before all the rooms of a house:

Metti il cappotto in salotto
Il frigorifero si trova in cucina

However, “in” is also used before nations, provinces and regions (but not with cities):

Marsiglia è una grande città in Francia
Sanremo è in provincia di La Spezia
Molti tedeschi vanno in Veneto in vacanza

In Italian, the preposition “in” is also used with all the leisure activities, such as:

Domani gli studenti andranno in gita
Tiziano Ferro andrà in tour il prossimo aprile

The preposition “in” is even used when talking about time expressions, in particular with years and months (even if it’s a little bit old-fashioned):

Nel 1946 Michele Ferrero fondò la sua azienda
Nel giugno del prossimo anno verrò in Italia

“In” is also followed by those shops that ends in -ia and -teca. In fact, you usually go inside them and they are feminine nouns.

Dobbiamo andare in farmacia
In panetteria puoi comprare pane fresco ogni giorno
Andrò in enoteca per comprare il vino da portare alla festa stasera
Ho giocato a un bellissimo gioco da tavolo sabato scorso in ludoteca

When you need to use the preposition “a”

The preposition “a” is used to indicated the position or the destination in the surrounding of a place, so it is usually employed with open spaces

I bambini comprano spesso un ghiacciolo al chiosco dei gelati.

Moreover, the preposition “a” is also used with masculine nouns that indicates leisure activities, with expressions like:

andare al cinema
comprare un biglietto per andare a teatro
Lo scorso fine settimana siamo andati a vedere una mostra al museo civico di Milano

The preposition “a” can also be used when talking about cities. Hence, you may refer to trips in other cities as:

fare una gita a Verona
prendere un biglietto per gli Uffizi a Firenze

Andare al mare vs andare in mare

We need to pay attention to these two expressions:

andare al mare
andare in mare

Although it seems like there’s just a small difference, it is very important to be able to distinguish them and to use them properly.

Please, note that the same difference can be found with other words that indicate a water surface, such as:

lago
fiume
stagno

Andare al mare

Andare al mare means that you go to the seaside, and it is the same as saying Andare in spiaggia.

For example, you can:

andare al mare a prendere il sole
andare al mare a giocare a racchettoni
andare al mare a fare un aperitivo

Andare in mare

On the other hand “andare in mare” means that you go in the sea. For example, you can:

andare in mare a nuotare
andare in mare a giocare a palla
andare in mare a fare immersioni

Attending university vs going to university

In Italian there’s a difference between “attending university” and “going to university” and it relies on the preposition you choose.

Andare all’università

This expression means that you attend university, so if someone asks you “Cosa fai nella vita?” you can reply saying “Vado all’università e studio lingue straniere”.

Andare in università

On the other hand “andare in università” means that you are on your way to the university. In big cities, you may find people asking for interviews or donations. If you are in a hurry, you can say “Mi spiace, sto andando in università e sono in ritardo”.

Andare a casa vs andare in casa

This expression is particularly useful even for elementary levels.

Andare a casa

When you say “devo andare a casa” it means that you need to go back home. You can also say “Devo tornare a casa” to say the same thing.

Andare in casa

If you say “andare in casa”, it means that you go inside a house. This expression is synonymic to “entrare in casa”. In fact, we use the preposition “in” because we go inside a building.

Exceptions

In Italian there are few exception for some grammatical rules. Italians don’t really know why we need to say it in a certain way.

Going hiking

In fact, when we want to talk about a trip we took to the mountains, we actually need to say “andare in montagna”.

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How to use the prepositions “a” and “in” in Italian