Italian Preposition “A”: Places, Cities, Receivers & Time

Hello and welcome back!
In this lesson, we’re talking about proposition A — the second one in our list. Like all prepositions, it’s an important one. And we’ll use it in several scenarios:

• When we want to say we are at a place
• When describing movement towards cities or towns (not countries or regions)
• In what I like to call the receiver scenario (a.k.a. indirect pronouns if you love grammar jargon)
• When talking about months and hours in a schedule

Usages of the Italian Preposition “A”: The Video

Being at a Place

Example:

• I am at home → Sono a casa

Simple as that: “home” is casa and “at” becomes a.

Another one:

• John is at the park → John è a il parco
  You can keep it as a il, but in natural Italian, we combine the preposition a with the article il, creating al: John è al parco.

We’ll dive deeper into combined prepositions in future lessons. For now, stick to the basic form a + article.

Movement Towards a City or Town or Being in a City or Twon

Example:

• Today I must go to Treviso → Oggi devo andare a Treviso

A quick cultural note: Treviso is a beautiful town near Venice — about 20 minutes by car (or 30 by train). Definitely worth a visit if you’re in Northeast Italy.

Another example:

• Serena and I want to go to Rome → Serena ed io vogliamo andare a Roma

In front of towns and cities, we always use a.

I live in Venice → Vivo a Venezia.

The “Receiver Scenario” (Indirect Pronoun Case)

I call it the “receiver scenario” because we use a when someone receives something in the sentence.

Example:

• I tell Mark a story
  We can rephrase it as I tell a story to Mark.
  That to becomes a in Italian: Racconto una storia a Mark.

Another one:

• I give John the keys
  Rephrased: I give the keys to John → Do le chiavi a John.

Whenever you can rephrase a sentence with “to + somebody,” you’re likely in a receiver scenario, and you use a.

Months and Hours in a Schedule

Example with months:

• In February I always go to Rio → A febbraio vado sempre a Rio

Example with hours:

• This store opens at 6 AM → Questo negozio apre alle sei di mattina

Why alle? Because it’s the combination of a + le (“to the” feminine plural) — hours in Italian are feminine and plural: le ore. So “at six” is literally “at the six hours.”

Another example:

• I must see the doctor at 4 PM today → Devo vedere il dottore alle quattro di pomeriggio oggi

And remember:

• For 1 o’clock, it’s alla una (a + la) because it’s singular feminine.

Key Takeaways

• At a place: Sono a casa, John è al parco
• To a city/town: Vado a Treviso, Vogliamo andare a Roma
• Receiver scenario: Racconto una storia a Marco, Do le chiavi a John
• Months: A febbraio…, A dicembre…
• Hours: Alle sei, Alle quattro, Alla una

Preposition a isn’t just “at” — it also means “to” in certain contexts. Keep practicing, and you’ll spot it everywhere.

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