Learning the verb andare and its prepositions often causes difficulties. There are some rules for this, but many you just have to learn by heart. Let’s learn the prepositions with andare!
Preposizioni con andare
Preposizioni con andare: Introduzione
There are basically the following possibilities with the verb andare:
A | Vado a casa | I go home |
A + article | Vado al cinema | I go to the cinema |
IN | Vado in pizzeria | I go to the pizzeria |
DA (with/without article) | Vado da Mario / dal dottore | I go to Mario / the doctor |
You should also know that these prepositions or rules apply not only to andare, but also to essere, so the preposition is the same whether you are going (movement) or you are there (state).
Vado al cinema | I go to the cinema |
Sono al cinema | I’m at the cinema |
Vado dal dottore | I go to the doctor |
Sono dal dottore | I’m at the doctor |
Impariamo le preposizioni con andare!
Andare A
Andare is followed by A (without article) in the following cases:
A + | Vado… | |
City, village | a Roma | to Rom |
Small island* | a Malta | to Malta |
Verb | a dormire | to sleep |
Cardinal point | a sud | to the south |
* If plural or with the word isola, then with article: alle Maldive to the Maldives, all’isola d’Elba to the island of Elba.
Then we need A for the following places, that you should learn by heart:
Vado… | |
a scuola | to school |
a casa | to home |
a teatro | to the theater |
a letto | to bed |
a lezione | to class |
a messa / alla messa | to Mass |
Andare AL, ALLA,...
You’ll use andare A + article (see articulated prepositions) for many places. The decision between the different forms (al, alla, etc.) depends on the definite article.
ANDARE AL
Vado… | |
al mare | to the sea |
al lago | to the lake |
al lavoro | to work |
al ristorante | to the restaurant |
al bar | to the café |
al cinema | to the cinema |
al supermercato | to the supermarket |
al mercato | to the market |
al museo | to the museum |
al centro commerciale | to the mall |
al pronto soccorso | to the emergency room |
al corso d’italiano | to the Italian course |
al parco | to the park |
ANDARE ALLA
Vado… | |
alla stazione | to the station |
alla posta | to the post |
alla festa | to the party |
alla riunione | to the meeting |
alla fermata | to the stop |
ANDARE ALL’ / ALLO
Vado… | |
all’ospedale | to the hospital |
all’università | to the university |
all’aeroporto | to the airport |
all’ufficio informazioni | to the information desk |
all’appuntamento | to the appointment |
allo stadio | to the stadium |
Andare IN
Andare is followed by IN (without article) in the following cases:
IN + | Vado… | |
Country* | in Italia | to Italy |
Region | in Toscana | to Tuscany |
Big island | in Sicilia | to Sicily |
Places in -ia | in pizzeria | to the pizzeria |
Places in -teca | in biblioteca | to the library |
House rooms | in cucina | to the kitchen |
*If plural, with article: negli Stati Uniti to the United States.
We also need IN for the following places:
Vado… | |
in vacanza | on vacation |
in città | to the city |
in centro (città) | to the (city) centre |
in montagna | to the mountains |
in campagna | to the countryside |
in banca | to the bank |
in ufficio | to the office |
in piscina | to the swimming pool |
in palestra | to the gym |
in spiaggia | alla spiaggia | to the beach |
in chiesa | to the church |
in questura | to the police station |
nel bosco | to the woods |
Andare DA
Andare DA is quite simple: we always use DA with people. The decision with/without article simply depends on what follows it. For example, proper nouns and possessives with family members (in the singular) have no article, in the other cases you need the article.
da Mario | to Mario |
da mio marito | to my husband |
dal dottore | to the doctor |
dalla parrucchiera | to the hairdresser |
dalla mia amica | to my friend |
Altri casi
Con UN, UNA,…
When the place is indefinite or when we have the indefinite article, we use IN:
Vado… | |
in un ristorante | to a restaurant |
in una banca | to a bank |
in un supermercato | to a supermarket |
Posti specifici
When the place is specified, for example, when you say the name, you use A + article:
Vado… | |
alla pizzeria Da Mario | to the pizzeria Da Mario |
alla banca Impresa | to the bank Impresa |
al teatro La Scala | to the theather La Scala |
Dentro
If you’re inside and you want to highlight it, use IN + article.
Sono… | |
nella stazione (= dentro la stazione) | in the station |
nel bar (= dentro il bar) | in the café |
nel supermercato (=dentro il supermercato) | in the supermarket |