Articulated prepositions are the contractions of certain Italian prepositions with definite articles. In English, contractions like "I’m" and "won’t" are optional and indicate informality. In Italian, however, preposizioni articolate are required, regardless of the register you’re speaking or writing in.
Of the nine most common Italian prepositions, five* have articulated forms. This table can seem overwhelming at first, but take a look and you’ll quickly see the patterns.
Contracted Prepositions
il
lo
la
l’
i
gli
le
a
al
allo
alla
all’
ai
agli
alle
da
dal
dallo
dalla
dall’
dai
dagli
dalle
di
del
dello
della
dell’
dei
degli
delle
in
nel
nello
nella
nell’
nei
negli
nelle
su
sul
sullo
sulla
sull’
sui
sugli
sulle
Per esempio…
Vado al negozio.
I’m going to the store.
Arriva dagli Stati Uniti.
He’s arriving from the United States.
* There is in fact a sixth preposition, con, with articulated forms, but these are no longer commonly used. You may encounter them in literature and idiomatic expressions.
il
lo
la
l’
i
gli
le
con
col
collo
colla
coll’
coi
cogli
colle
Contracted prepositions are known as preposizioni articolate, in contrast to basic prepositions called preposizione semplici.
Note that the articulated prepositions with di are identical to their corresponding partitive articles, and the plural forms are also identical to their corresponding indefinite articles.
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