When you’re learning a language it seems that every answer gives birth to at least two new questions, and my recent blog ‘In’ was no exception. In order to deal with one of the most common questions about the Italian word ‘in’ we need to have a look at the English word ‘to’. ‘To’, with the meaning of ‘to go somewhere’, has three main interpretations in Italian:
1. If we are talking about going to a country, a region, or a large Island (which is equivalent to a region) such as Sicilia, Sardegna, or Corsica, we use ‘in’:
| questo Aprile vado in Spagna per due settimane |
| this April I’m going to Spain for two weeks |
| l’anno scorso sono andata in Irlanda a trovare degli amici |
| last year I went to Ireland to visit some friends |
| domani devo andare in Lombardia per un colloquio di lavoro |
| tomorrow I’ve got to go to Lombardy for a job interview |
2. When we talk about going just about anywhere else we use ‘a’:
| domani vado a Parma a trovare una vecchia amica |
| tomorrow I’m going to Parma to visit an old friend |
| andiamo al supermercato? |
| shall we go to the supermarket? |
| Luisa è andata alla macelleria |
| Luisa has gone to the butcher’s |
| Claudio e Annalisa sono andati in vacanza a Capri |
| Claudio and Annalisa have gone on holiday to Capri (a small Italian island) |
N.B. we combine ‘a’ with the definite article il, lo, la, etc. Hence a (to) + la (the) becomes alla (to the), as in alla macelleria (to the butcher’s).
Be aware that in some cases you may hear either ‘a’ or ‘in’
| andiamo alla pizzeria stasera? / andiamo in pizzeria stasera? |
| shall we go to the pizzeria this evening? |
| vado alla banca / vado in banca |
| I’m going to the bank |
3. When we talk about going to a person we use ‘da’:
| alle due devo andare da Michele |
| I’ve got to go to Michele’s (house) at two o’clock |
| domani mattina devo andare dal dottore |
| tomorrow morning I’ve got to go to the doctor |
| voglio andare dal fruttivendolo a comprare delle mele |
| I want to go to the greengrocer to buy some apples |
N.B. we combine ‘da’ with the definite article il, lo, la, etc. e.g. da (to) + il (the) becomes dal (to the) as in dal dottore (to the doctor).
I bet you’re wondering why we say ‘alla macelleria’ (to the butcher’s), but ‘dal fruttivendolo’? Well la macelleria is the butcher’s shop so we use a because we are going to the shop, but il fruttivendolo is the grocer, i.e. the person who sells fruit and vegetables, hence we use da because we are going to a person.
Comments:
Valerie:
Ah HA – now I undertand “Torno da me” in Laura Pausini’s “La Geografia del mio Cammino” song. I had the rules for IN and TO, but listening to this song, and reading this blog finalmente io capisco la regola! Going to a PERSON. Grazie, Serena!
Jeannet:
Buon giorno domani, Serena,
Andavevo dal fruttivendolo di mercato invece per
achetare le fragole di buon gusto e finalmente le achetavevo al supermercato. (senso corretto?)
Jeannet
Jeannet:
Vadevo invece dal fruttivendolo achetare le fragole e le ho achetti allo supermercato.
Jeannet:
tanto scusi, l’orrori.
Vadevo invece comprare le fragoli dal fruttivendolo e le ho comprati allo supermercato. Jeannet.
Serena:
@Jeannet Ciao Jeannet,
I’m guessing that what you want to say is that you bought the strawberries from the supermarket instead of the greengrocer, is that right?
O.k. here is the construction that you need:
Invece di comprare le fragole dal fruttivendolo le ho comprate al supermercato.
You don’t need to use the verb ‘andare’, but nevertheless, if you do use it you should say ‘sono andata’ (I went), e.g. ‘sono andata al supermercarto a comprarle’ (I went to the supermarket to buy them). Andavo (and not ‘vadevo’, which doesn’t exist), is the imperfect tense, equivalent to ‘I used to go’, so it isn’t appropriate in this case.
Saluti da Serena
Jeannet:
Ciao Serena,
Grazie mille per il tuo responso. I fellt awfully ashamed. Maybe I hadn’t had “un caffè espresso” yet at the time! < ; )
Yes, you are quite right as you say , thàt is what I wanted to say.
I remember from the very beginning I started to learn italiano I always used to mix up "vengo" and "vado". Mi scusi anche per' l'orrori' in
stead of 'i errori'. It isn't my day today.
Saluti di Jeannet
Grazie!
Serena:
@Jeannet Ciao Jeannet, ci mancherebbe altro (don’t mention it). Perhaps ‘orrori’ was the right word if you were having a bad day! 🙂
Saluti da Serena
catherina carratu:
grazie, Serena. Ho trovato il tuo risposto alla mia domanda.
Alex:
Thank you so much! I was freaking out about “al” and “dal” in at first sight identical structures “andare al negozio” vs “andare dal dottore”. Thanks to this blog post I understand the difference now. Cheers!
Serena:
@Alex Salve Alex! Non c’è di che!
Saluti da Serena