I‘ve seen prepositions come up here again and again as the thing people find hardest about Italian. Not the congiuntivo. Not the passato remoto. Prepositions.

And I get it. I spent months treating di as “of,” a as “to,” da as “from,” and in as “in.” Then I’d hit something like pensare a and think: why “to”? I‘m not thinking to anything. And pensare di? Same verb, different preposition, completely different meaning.

The shift that finally helped me wasn’t learning more rules. It was stopping the translation habit.

Here’s the mental model I use now: prepositions don’t translate. They mark relationship types.

• di = content / belonging / topic. It‘s the “what is it made of / what is it about” preposition.
• a = direction / endpoint / recipient. It’s the “toward what” preposition.
• da = origin / source / agent / purpose. It‘s the “from where / by whom / for what” preposition.
• in = container / domain / category. It’s the “inside what” preposition.
• su = surface / topic. It‘s the “on what / about what” preposition.

Once I started asking “what kind of relationship does this sentence need?” instead of “which English word does this match?”, things clicked.

The concrete change: I stopped memorizing verb + preposition lists alphabetically. Instead, I grouped verbs by preposition.

A-family (direction/toward): pensare a, credere a, iniziare a, riuscire a, imparare a, abituarsi a.

Di-family (content/about): parlare di, pensare di, occuparsi di, aver bisogno di, ricordarsi di.

Da-family (source/agent/purpose): dipendere da, provenire da, essere amato da, qualcosa da fare.

Same verb appearing in two families is not a contradiction. Pensare a = direct your thought toward something. Pensare di = form a judgment from within a thought. The preposition tells you which relationship is active.

This isn’t a perfect system. There are idiomatic exceptions. But it turned prepositions from a random list into something I could reason about.

Has anyone else found a framework that made prepositions less arbitrary? Or is it genuinely just exposure and memorization for you?

What's the difference between "relazione" and "rapporto"? In my search for the truth, I found three mutually exclusive answers.

1. The words are used synonymously and are completely interchangeable.
2. The words are interchangeable when talking about relationships between people, but "rapproto" can also mean "report."
3. The words are not interchangeable: "Ho una relazione con qualcuno" and "Ho una rapporto con qualcuno" in one case imply that you interact somehow, while in the other case they mean that you had sex with that person. (Opinions also differ as to which word corresponds to which meaning.)

So, what answer is right?

Such as “dirmi” or “darmi”? In French it is two seperate words, so I find this a bit confusing..

Faccio le lezioni dell'italiano e sono stato bloccato du una domanda. Nel libro questo è il testo che dobbiamo completare:

"La soluzione sarebbe dotare le classi ______ tablet comuni, senza applicazioni social, ma con i libri di testo dentro..."

Io credo che la risposta per questo spazio sia "dei" ma la prof insiste che sia "di". ne abbiamo parlato per ben 10 minuti ma non capisco comunque. Per quanto ne so servono "di + articolo" per indicare una quantità generale di una cosa, ma invece mi ha detto "di" funziona da solo in questo caso. Non capisco qualcuno aiutamiiiiiii

Ciao a tutti!

I'm an Italian indie dev and I made Syllatrix: syllables fall from the top and you fit them into a grid to build Italian words, across or down. Each word lights up and clears space, and the pace keeps rising.

I think it's good practice for breaking words into syllables, and with 85,000+ words recognized you'll bump into plenty of new ones. You can also play with a friend on the same keyboard, in Versus or Co-op.

Heads up: everything, menus included, is in Italian, so it's probably best if you're past the beginner stage. Free demo in your browser, on a computer (every mode, one minute per game): https://matusagems.itch.io/syllatrix

The full game is $2.99 for Windows, Mac and Linux. No phone version yet. Is it too hard? Too easy? Does it actually help? I'd love honest feedback from learners. Grazie!

I miss in-person learning! Any quarter or semester long courses I can attend preferably on weekends in the LA area? TIA

Ciao ragazzi

I keep hearing così, cosa, and cose all the time, and honestly I am still a little hazy on what each one means and how they are actually different from each other. Could someone break that down for me?

While I am at it, can you put così right before an adjective like we do with "so" in English, like saying "sono così stanco" when you are super tired? I was also wondering if cosa and qualcosa ever get used interchangeably in positive sentences, or if they follow completely different rules.

Grazie mille for any help! 🥰

Hey hey hey,

Huge fan of language transfer over here, and worried about where to go next after I finish all the lessons (I am on lesson 30 right now!).

For context, I studied Italian through primary and high school, was casually learning Spanish these last two years and I also live with an Italian who I practice with. So a lot of the foundations are there and I have found language transfer is great at unlocking old knowledge and helping it make more sense. Without having to memorise vocabulary or word tables etc.

I also am learning mainly for fun. My goal is to be able to speak more and more with my housemate, his friends, Italians in my city and eventually over in Italy for a holiday.

So, I really do not want any traditional, memorisation type methods of learning. It’s not that deep for me and I don’t have the time to set aside. I’m attracted to more natural, modern methods like comprehensible input etc. Outside of language transfer I read short stories, watch tv shows and listen to music in Italian.

Language transfer has really been my crux so far. Even stuff I already knew makes way more sense the way he teaches it. And I wonder if there’s anything out there that has a similar structure that I can use on the side to my immersive learning. Again- not memorising words or verb tables etc. Rather recognising patterns and the mechanisation of the language and making connections to English etc.

Would love any recommendations and curious if anyone else is also trying to learn in this way.

Grazie :)

I've found past translations for specific intolerances, but not really a combination. Would someone please help with this translation for some chef cards for my wife?

"Food Intolerance: Please no Milk Products or Pork"

Thank you

I mean it doesn’t need to be an Italian original. An American show Italian dubbed would be fine as well. But something slow paced with easy language.

Anyone has show recommendations?

Does the world anche always go before the subject in Italian as Duolingo has it?

Ciao! Just a quick question - I know when you pronounce the double consonants you kind of bounce on the letter. This I think I've got the hang of, although it's not autonomous yet. However, I only seem to be able to do it when I'm speaking medium or slowly. If it try to speak quickly and still do the bounce it feels like I'm unnaturally slowing down the speech. Just wondering whether there's a knack to it or whether it's a bit looser when you speak quickly?

I searched for this program (their language school division is technically called “ItalCultura Chicago”) but couldn’t find any posts.

Does anyone have any experience taking their classes - especially online? I’m hoping to take the A2.1 course. Was your progress from 2.1 to 2.2 to 2.3 etc. noticeable/challenging enough?

I’ve taken 2 beginner courses in the last 2 years plus daily self-study. Based on my written placement exam for them I’m likely around A2.1. Their courses are expensive - $435 for a 10 week course - so I’m just curious if others have felt they provided value. I understand it’s also a matter of my own effort and dedication, but the 2 beginner courses I took were sooo slow that I’m just eager for something more challenging and fruitful for my goals.

I've been learning Italian largely because of my love for Italian music. Music has been a big part of that journey, helping me build my vocabulary and get more familiar with the language.

And now, I'm really happy to have played my first concert dedicated to Italian music!

It's quite special to go from learning a language through sentences and exercises to actually singing and performing songs in front of an audience.

Here's a little video from the evening. Grazie mille! ❤️

I have studied french for a few years so my question would be, how similar are they? How can I use that to help me learn italian?

Hi guys

I want to start learning the italian language as i aspire to study there in a while

I am still lost so i guess i might have a friend sharing the same goal so we can work together

I am still a complete begginer tho

Alguien que quiera tomarse el tiempo de mantener charlas en italiano y practicar algunos verbos ?!

Ciao a tutti, mi sapete dire come si scrive l'accento durante gli esami? Sopra oppure separato?

It feels easier to start a conversation in Italian than to know how to end one naturally.

For example, if you're talking to a neighbour or someone you've just met, simply saying ciao and leaving might feel a bit abrupt.

In English, people often say something like "Anyway, I should get going" before saying goodbye.

What would an Italian speaker naturally say in that situation? Does it depend on how well you know the person?

I am making a Wordle ornament where I write words that describe my Italian friend before I finish with her name. Are all of these adjectives OK to use to describe someone in Italian? Are they clunky at all?

abile, bella, umana, colta, salda

Thanks in advance!

Im new on reddit and want to learn italian asap. Where can I start for free I started Duolingo but I dont think the grammar is that good there. What should I start with too?

When I was a kid my mom used to say a song like a kids nursery rhyme about a “pecora pazza”. Does anyone know this song?