Einfache Präpositionen

Italian has eight short prepositions that do most of the work: di, a, da, in, con, su, per, tra / fra. They do not line up one-to-one with English "of, to, from, in": each covers a different patch, so learn them in phrases rather than as single translations.

Tra and fra mean the same; pick the one that sounds better (fra tre giorni, avoiding tra tre).

"In" a place: a or in?

• a + town or city: a Roma, a Firenze, a Londra
• in + country, region or large island: in Italia, in Toscana, in Sardegna (small islands take a: a Capri, a Ischia)
• in + rooms and many places: in cucina - in the kitchen, in banca, in farmacia, in centro
• a with a few fixed places: a casa - at home, a scuola, a teatro, a letto - in bed

English uses "in" for all of these, which is why *in Roma is such a common mistake.

Two uses of da English speakers miss

• At / to someone's place - da + a person: Ceniamo da Luca. - We're having dinner at Luca's. Vado dal medico. - I'm going to the doctor's. A trattoria called Da Gino is "Gino's".
• For how long, with the present tense: Studio italiano da due anni. - I've been studying Italian for two years. English needs the present perfect; Italian uses the present, because the studying is still going on. Ho studiato italiano per due anni would mean you have stopped.