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)
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.
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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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