LE PREPOSIZIONI

In inglese le proposizioni sono solo semplici e perciò sono sempre separate dall'articolo che le segue.
 
PREPOSIZIONI DI MEZZO

Le preposizioni di mezzo introducono un complemento di mezzo o strumento.

BY (con, per, in) si usa generalmente

con i mezzi di trasporto e di comunicazione

I went by car/bus/bicycle/plane/train/tube/boat

Sono andato con l’auto/l’autobus/la bicicletta, l’aereo/il treno/la metropolitana/la barca

con i mezzi di comunicazione

by fax/radio/phone/mail

per fax/radio/telefono/posta

ATTENZIONE:

Se il mezzo di trasporto è accompagnato da un aggettivo possessivo o dal nome del possessore si usa:

in se si parla di auto o imbarcazioni di ridotte dimensioni

Did you go in your auto?

Sei andato con la tua auto?

on se si parla di altri mezzi di trasporto

I went on my moped

Sono andato col mio motorino

Si usa on anche per dire

on foot

a piedi

WITH (con) si usa per tutti gli altri complementi di mezzo

Tom killed the spider with a shoe

Tom ha ucciso il ragno con una scarpa

WITHOUT (senza)

You can’t open the door without a key

Non puoi aprire la porta senza chiave

PREPOSIZIONI DI TEMPO
Prima di tradurre un complemento di tempo è bene porsi la domanda "quando?" perché questo complemento si traduce in inglese utilizzando  diverse preposizioni.

Si possono individuare preposizioni che esprimono un momento,  una durata, l'inizio e fine di un periodo.

Momento

IN si  usa con:

Mesi
I was born in November
Sono nato in novembre

Stagioni

I always go to the seaside in summer
Vado sempre al mare d’estate

Anni

I moved to France in 1993.
Mi sono trasferito in Francia nel 1993

 Secoli

My great-grandfather was born in the 19thcentury.
Il mio bisnonno è nato nel XIX secolo

morning, afternoon, evening

I get up early in the morning
Mi alzo presto al mattino

ATTENZIONE:

in riferito al futuro significa fra/tra
The film will start in ten minutes
Il film comincerà fra dieci minuti

In time: in orario per un evento specifico

I was just in time for the 8.15 train
Ero appena in orario per il treno delle 8.15

ON si usa davanti a parole che esprimono un singolo giorno, in qualunque modo venga espresso:

giorno della settimana

On Monday
Lunedì

giorno della settimana + momento preciso della giornata

On Monday morning
Lunedì mattina

parte di un giorno specifico

On that particular afternoon
Quel (particolare) pomeriggio

data

On 3rd April
Il 3 aprile

festività

On Christmas day
Il giorno di Natale

ricorrenza particolare

On my birthday
Il giorno del mio compleanno

davanti a holiday

On holiday
In vacanza

ATTENZIONE:

On time significa in orario, puntuale
The train was on time
Il treno era in orario

AT si usa:

davanti a parole che indicano un gruppo di pochi giorni
At the weekend
Nel fine settimana
At Christmas
Per Natale (il periodo di Natale)

davanti alle ore, in qualunque modo siano espresse

At 5 o’clock
Alle 5
At midday
A mezzogiorno
At lunch time
All’ora di pranzo
At dawn
All’alba

con la parola night

At night
Di notte

ATTENZIONE:

Se ci si riferisce ad una notte specifica si usa on:
on that night

Durata

DURING si usa per introdurre il periodo in cui si svolge un'azione ed è seguito da un nome

During the summer
Durante l’estate
During his childhood
Durante la sua infanzia

WHILE è seguito da soggetto e verbo

She read a magazine while she was having lunch
Ha letto una rivista mentre mangiava

FROM…TO… (Da…a….)

I work from 8 o’clock in the morning to 5 in the afternoon
Lavoro dalle 8 del mattino alle 5 del pomeriggio

FOR (da/ per) si usa quando è espressa la durata dell’azione

I have been living in Italy for 10 years
Vivo in Italia da 10 anni

THROUGHOUT (per tutto)

I worked throughout the week
Ho lavorato per tutta la settimana

BETWEEN ... AND  (tra ... e)

The robbery occurred between 10.00 and 10.30 am.
La rapina si è verificata tra le 10.00 e le 10.30

WITHIN (entro) si usa quando viene espresso l’intervallo di tempo entro il quale si fa qualche cosa.

I must finish this book within a week
Devo finire questo libro entro una settimana

Inizio e fine di un periodo

SINCE (da) si usa quando è espresso il momento di inizio dell’azione.
I have been living in Italy since1998
Vivo in Italia dal 1998

BY (entro) si usa quando viene specificato il termine entro il quale si fa qualche cosa

I must read this book by next Saturday
Devo leggere questo libro entro sabato prossimo

TILL / UNTIL (fino a)

I’ll be at home until 3 o’clock
Sarò a casa fino alle 3

Altre preposizioni di tempo

AFTER	dopo	I’ll ring you up after lunch. Ti telefonerò dopo pranzo.
BEFORE	prima	I’ll be back before lunch time. Sarò di ritorno prima dell’ora di pranzo.

Le espressioni today (oggi), tomorrow (domani), yesterday (ieri), last month (il mese scorso) ecc., essendo determinate per se stesse, non richiedono alcuna preposizione
 I saw him yesterday
Lo vidi ieri
Today I am busy
Oggi sono occupato
I spoke to hin last month
Gli ho parlato il mese scorso

AGO traduce fa con i complementi di tempo

An hour ago
Un'ora fa
An month ago
Un mese fa
An year ago
Un anno fa

PREPOSIZIONI DI LUOGO
 Per i complementi di luogo in italiano spesso si adopera la stessa preposizione Abito a Milano/vado a Milano

Quindi per riconoscere il tipo di complemento di luogo, piuttosto che guardare alla preposizione, bisogna guardare al verbo.

In inglese le preposizioni di STATO IN LUOGO seguono sempre un verbo di stato (vivere, essere, trovarsi …).

 IN (in, a, nel) si usa normalmente per esprimere il concetto di all’interno di…, per indicare una posizione in uno spazio in qualche modo delimitato, anche se non ha un preciso confine fisico:

 una nazione
I live in Italy.
Vivo in Italia.

 una città

I live in Rome
Vivo a Roma

un luogo delimitato da un confine

In the swimming pool
Nella piscina (nell’acqua)

un edificio

In the house
All’interno della casa

una strada

In the street
Nella strada

un ambiente naturale (con mare, fiume, lago, la preposizione in indica nell’acqua).

In the mountains
In montagna

una zona geografica
He is swimming in the sea.
Sta nuotando nel mare

in un libro

Look it up in the dictionary!
Cercalo nel dizionario

AT ( a, in) che ha un significato più generale di in, si usa:

con casa, ufficio, scuola ... intesi non come edifici fisici, ma come luogo dove si vive, si lavora, si studia
He is at home.
Egli è a casa
He is at the swimming pool.
Egli è in piscina (non necessariamente nell’acqua).

quando si vuole indicare un punto preciso

At the North Pole
Al Polo Nord
At the bus stop
Alla fermata dell’autobus

per indicare una città, quando si tratta di una tappa nell’ambito di un percorso

This train calls at London
Questo treno si ferma a London

per indicare mare, lago, fiume, quando si intende il luogo in generale

We have got a cottage at the seaside
Abbiamo una villetta al mare

ON (su, sopra) si usa:

per esprimere il concetto di sopra riferito ad una superficie, quando c’è contatto fisico
The book is on the desk
Il libro è sulla scrivania

per indicare una posizione su di una linea

On the border
Al confine

OVER (su, sopra) si usa:

per esprimere il concetto di sopra  riferito ad una superficie, quando non c’è contatto fisico
The plane is flying over the Alps
L’aereo sta volando sopra le Alpi

quando si copre completamente o parzialmente una superficie

She put the blanket over the sleeping baby
Mise la coperta sul bambino addormentato

per esprimere il concetto sopra, da una parte all’altra

The bridge over the river Po
Il ponte sul fiume Po

ABOVE (al di sopra), come over, si usa:

quando non c’è contatto fisico
The plane is flying above the Alps
L’aereo sta volando sopra le Alpi

quando si fa riferimento ad una superficie verticale (pagina scritta, muro, tabella etc.)

The picture is above the door
Il quadro è sopra la porta
Do not write above this line
Non scrivete sopra questa riga

UNDER (sotto) si usa per indicare uno stato in luogo

The cat is under the table
Il gatto è sotto il tavolo

UNDERNEATH (sotto) si usa per indicare qualcosa che è totalmente o parzialmente coperto da qualcos’altro.

The ball had rolled underneath the bed
La palla era rotolata sotto il letto

BELOW (sotto), si usa riferito ad una superficie verticale (pagina scritta, muro, tabella etc.) e quando non c'è contatto

Do not write below this line
Non scrivere sotto questa linea
The shelves are below the pictures
I ripiani sono sotto le foto

NEAR  (vicino a…) si usa per indicare la posizione  rispetto a un altro luogo, una persona ...

I live near here
Abito qui vicino

NEXT  TO (accanto a…, confinante con…)

Sarah is sitting next to Robert
Sarah è seduta vicino a Robert

BESIDE (a fianco di…) si usa spesso con lo stesso significato di next to.

Sarah was sitting beside Robert
Sarah era seduta a fianco di Robert

BY (vicino a …) si usa quando si parla di cose o persone che sono molto vicine, usato anche con il significato di next to.

I have a beautiful house by the river
Ho una bella casa vicino al fiume
She was sitting by the window
Era seduta vicino alla finestra

BETWEEN (tra) si usa per indicare la posizione fra due cose o persone

Susan is sitting between Mary and John
Susan è seduta fra Mary e John

AMONG (tra) si usa per indicare la posizione fra più di due cose o persone

It is a lovely cottage among the trees
È una graziosa villetta fra gli alberi

Altre preposizioni di stato in luogo

AGAINST (contro)	The ladder is against the wall La scala è contro il muro
BEFORE (davanti a)	I’m sitting before Jim Sono seduto davanti a Jim
BEHIND (dietro a)	He’s sitting behind his desk È seduto dietro la sua scrivania
CLOSE TO (vicino a)	She’s sitting close to me Lei è seduta vicino a me
DOWN (giù)	The house is just down the street La casa è in fondo alla strada
INSIDE (dentro)	The table is inside the room Il tavolo è dentro la stanza
IN FRONT OF (di fronte)	There is a big tree in front of my house. C’è un grande albero di fronte a casa mia
IN THE MIDDLE (nel mezzo, al centro)	In the middle of the room Al centro della stanza
OPPOSITE (dal lato opposto)	The door is opposite the window La porta è di fronte alla finestra
OUT OF (fuori di)	The car is out of  the parking L'auto è fuori dal parcheggio
OUTSIDE (fuori di)	The stadium is outside the city Lo stadio è fuori città
UP (su)	The house is located up the hill La casa si trova in cima alla collina

Le preposizioni di MOTO A/DA LUOGO vengono sempre utilizzate con verbi che indicano movimento (verbi di moto).

TO (a, in, fino a) si usa:

per esprimere il concetto di spostamento verso un luogo preciso
I’m going  to Rome.
Sto andando a Roma

per esprimere il concetto di spostamento fino a…

I walked to the end of the road.
Ho camminato fino alla fine della strada

INTO  (all’interno di…) si usa per esprimere il concetto di ingresso in un luogo chiuso, o in qualche modo delimitato.

He went into the house
Entrò in casa
He went into the water
Entrò nell’acqua

TOWARDS (verso) si usa per esprimere il concetto di spostamento verso qualcosa o qualcuno
He was heading towards that building
Si stava dirigendo verso quell’edificio
Who's that girl in a strange green suit running towards us?
Chi è quella ragazza vestita d'un insolito verde che ci corre in contro?

ON/ONTO (su) si usa per esprimere il concetto di spostamento sopra una superficie piana

I stepped down from the train onto the platform
Sono sceso dal treno sul binario

Out Of (fuori da) indica moto da un luogo chiuso o circoscritto

Look out! Your dog's running out of the garden
Attento! Il tuo cane sta correndo fuori dal giardino

FROM (da) esprime

sia il complemento di moto da luogo (vengo da…)
The train from London arrived 5 minutes ago
Il treno da Londra è arrivato 5 minuti fa
che quello di origine(sono originario di…,)
Jacques is from Paris
Jacques è di Parigi

OFF (da, via da, giù da) indica un moto inteso come allontanamento da una superficie o da un mezzo di trasporto

The glass is rolling off the table
Il bicchiere sta per cadere dal tavolo
He fell off the ladder
È caduto dalla scala

ACROSS (attraverso) si usa per indicare un moto in linea retta da un punto a un altro.

It takes about 90 minutes across the lake by ferry.
Ci vogliono circa 90 minuti per attraversare il lago col traghetto.

THROUGH (attraverso) indica un generico moto da un punto a un altro, e/o all'interno di un luogo o un oggetto

The river Seine flows through Paris.
La Senna attraversa Parigi.

ALONG (lungo) indica un generico moto da un punto a un altro

We're now driving along the Champs Elysées.
Stiamo percorrendo in macchina gli Champs Elysées.

UP (su) DOWN (giù) indicano il movimento in su o in giù

Old people find it difficult to climb up and down the stairs.
Per gli anziani è difficile salire e scendere le scale

OVER (attraverso, al di là, sopra) indica il moto al di là, oltre o sopra qualcosa

The (hot air) ballon is flying over the ocean
La mongolfiera sta attraversando l'oceano

AROUND/ROUND (attorno/intorno) indica quando il movimento è circolare o in varie direzioni senza una determinata meta.

They're travelling around the world
Stanno facendo il giro del mondo
I went round the town.
Sono andato in giro in città

UPSTAIRS/DOWNSTAIRS ( al piano di sopra/sotto) sono impiegati quando il movimento è connesso a un cambio del piano di un edificio

I need your help to carry these heavy big boxes upstairs
I need your help to carry these heavy big boxes downstairs
Ho bisogno del tuo aiuto per portare su di sopra questi pesanti scatoloni
Ho bisogno del tuo aiuto per portare giù da basso questi pesanti scatoloni

Altre preposizioni di movimento

PAST (davanti a, accanto)	She walked past him without saying a word. Gli è passata accanto senza dire una parola
UNDER (sotto)	The boat travelled under the bridge. Il battello viaggiò sotto il ponte

ITALIAN HOLIDAY

The summer holidays finally arrived, so Dave and I decided to go to the coast.

After my terrible experience in the mountains I decided to be better prepared this time and the first thing I did was buy the special protective sun cream they make ONLY for we English... protection level number 326.

Dave, who already knew the coast in Italy, gave me some important advice.

John, you must prepare your skin a little, you’re too white. Go to the ‘solarium’ and get a little browner.”

I liked this advice, so I visited the ‘solarium.’

“I’ll start with my face,” I said to the lady there.

The lamp was programmed for 10 minutes at minimum power and the ventilator on maximum, but after two minutes of agony and suffocation I was already spraying my face a lot with the bottle of water. “No, John!” I said to myself, “you’re here now, you must resist!” After thirty minutes I was back home. “Hello Dave, what a good idea you had!”

Dave looked shocked. “Who are you?” he asked. “You look like a talking tomato!”

I looked into the mirror and saw Gabibbo looking back at me.

When we finally arrived at the beach I immediately undressed and walked on the nice soft sand.

Everybody was looking at me and pointing.

Ok, my body was very white and my face was very red, but I didn’t think I was so shocking.

“My God, you look like a matchstick!” Dave said.

Ignoring Dave and all the curious people, I started to walk towards the sea and after just a few steps I saw that a group of children were following me pointing their fingers and talking excitedly.

This made me nervous.

“Why are you so red?” a little boy asked.

“Go away!” was my answer.

"Are you a monster?” he continued.

I started to lose my patience. “Why are you here?!” I asked.

“I’m on holiday,” the little boy said.

“Holiday?!” I shouted. “You have never worked a single day in your life!!! Why do you think you deserve a holiday?! A holiday from what?!”

Little boy didn’t answer but he did cry All the children looked at me afraid. They whispered to each other but I could hear them. “Why is the matchstick monster shouting at us?”, “Why doesn’t Daddy kill it?”

I finally went into the sea... up to my stomach, then my shoulders... I saw that a group of people were watching me from the beach... all waiting to see if my face made a ‘psssss!’ sound when the water reached it.

Then, back on the beach something magical happened.

I was lying under the sun when an African vendor stopped near us. There I was, a towel covering my feet and legs, another towel covering my stomach and chest, sun block on my nose and ears, sunglasses and a big white hat on my head.

“English?” the vendor asked.

“HOW DID you KNOW THAT?!” I asked incredulously. “Do I know you?!” I promise you, dear friends, I did not know that man and he did not know me. It remains a mystery.

The next day the sun was strong outside but in the hotel room it was snowing... from my face!!!

My skin had died and left my head, leaving big white marks on my face... How beautiful I was!

For the rest of the holiday I stayed in the hotel room afraid to go out into the sun.

And all I did was watch TV and drink beer in the hotel room. So apart from the first day it was the perfect holiday!

Rispondi

Where did John and Dave decide to go?

What did John buy?

How long was the lamp programmed for?

Was the lamp on minimum or maximum power?

When John looked into the mirror, who did he see?

Who asked John why he was so red?

Were the children afraid?

Where was the vendor from?

What colour was the hat on John’s head?

Did the vendor know John?

MEETING THE FAMILY

Today was a big day. I finally met the family of my girlfriend Concetta and it was a disaster.

They came from a small town in South Italy.

Before they arrived Concetta was very agitated...

“Now remember, John, they come from a little town in the south of Italy and they have a different mentality to the people here in Milan.”

"How?" I asked.

“Well, they have old ideas, especially my grandmother. Don’t be surprised if she asks you a lot of... questions.”
I put on my best shirt and was determined to make a good impression. Concetta was very important to me.

At the table I was agitated but confident.

The first to speak to me was ‘zia Grazia.’ She said: “So how is the Queen? Is she well?”

“I have no idea” I answered honestly.

“I like her son, what’s his name?”

“Carlo?” I answered... remembering that ‘Carlo’ was how Prince Charles was known in Italy.

“No, no, not the one with the big ears; the other one, the beautiful one.” “Andrea?”

“Exactly;” then she looked at the others and said: “See? It may be the English royal family but they all have Italian names!”

I didn’t comment.

You can say what you want about the southern Italians, but they cook very well.

The grandmother ‘nonna Pia’ arrived with a big herring on a plate. I was happy about this because I love fish, but the sauce interested me more, because it was blue.

“What’s this?” I asked... and immediately zia Grazia said “It’s a fish! Don’t you have them in England?”

After some very animated eating, talking and shouting, zia Grazia decided to victimise me again.

“I like the English!” She smiled. Well, this was positive. “And do you know who my favourite Englishman is?”

“I don’t know,” I said “Hugh Grant? David Beckham? Mr Bean?” “No... Sean Connery”

I don’t know how but I stayed calm.

“Zia Grazia... Sean Connery isn’t English, he’s Scottish!”

“Oh it’s the same thing” she said.

I exploded “No! IT’s NOT THE SAME THING! He is from Scotland in the north!, I am from England in the south... he is not English, he’s Scottish! You know, big hairy men in mini-skirts... SCOTLAND!”

There was a terrible silence. Everybody was looking at me, thinking I was crazy.

“Well, I like Sean Connery anyway” said zia Grazia, defensively. After a little wine the grappa arrived. After the grappa nonna Pia started to talk a lot about old traditions of South Italy and how a woman should be with her man.

“So when are you going to marry? she asked us.

“It’s a little early nonna” said Concetta, her face red.

“Well, don’t forget...” said nonna Pia “you be a good wife Concetta... when your man returns from work you must have his dinner ready on the table...”

I couldn’t believe this!

This evening I decided that nonna Pia was right. I am the man and I should be a man, a ‘south Italy style’ man, so when I returned home I said to Concetta “I want to eat now, woman!”

I’m now writing this from a place called ‘Pronto Soccorso.’ The doctor says that my nose is broken in two places and I was fortunate that I still had all my own teeth.

Rispondi

Where does Conci’s family come from?

Have people from the south of Italy got the same mentality as in Milan?

Which one of the Queen’s sons does zia Grazia like?

Do the southern Italians cook well?

What’s the grandmother’s name?

What colour is the sauce?

Is Sean Connery English?

What does everybody drink after the wine?

For nonna Pia, what is ready on the table every day for the man?

What happened to John’s nose?

MOUNTAIN MYSTERY

Leggete il seguente brano e formulate risposte adeguate alle frasi date.

I always asked myself why the people in Milan go to the mountains.

For me mountains are big boring rocks but many Italians love going up them so there must be a reason.

I thought.

So when my friend Marco invited me to a week end in the mountains I went. The day went like this.

Marco woke me up with a very bright torch in my face. I looked at my watch and saw that it was 5 o’ clock in the morning.

“it’s 5 o’ clock” I shouted “I have never woken up at 5 o’ clock in the morning in my life Is it legal? “come on” he says “we must go”

 “Ok I'll just have my shower” I said.

 “No you can’t” He shouted “there is no time”

I looked at Marco and with complete horror I saw that he was wearing a green Alpino hat with a feather in it.

I put my big bag on my back and when we opened the door I immediately felt the terrible cold. It was also raining.

“Aren’t you happy?” Marco smiled “It’s raining like in England”.

Now I knew I was with a complete psychopath.

 “Ok I said “I need my umbrella, please wait a moment”

Marco shouted again"Umbrella"? You can’t take an umbrella up in the mountain. Here put this on” Now this is very hard to believe, but M. was offering me another green Alpino hat with a feather in it.

 “You don’t seriously think I will wear that, do you?” I said “Somebody might see me”. “John there’s nobody outside at five in the morning” he said.
“Of course there isn’t” I said “Nobody else is so stupid”
When we were outside we started walking. It was horrible. My shoes were useless and my feet were wet after 5 minutes.

 “can we stop and rest?” I asked.

Marco started shouting again: “We’ve only been walking for 10 minutes! We still have hours to go”. This was very bad news, of course, but I really wanted to see why people did this, so I was patient and walked. Up and up we went and all I could see was rock. I continued to ask myself why oh why people did this. I was wet, cold and tired

 “Please Marco” I said “can we go back, please?”

 “We’re almost there” he said “I want to show you something. Do you know why we are here? Soon You will see.” After another 3 hours of incredible fatigue we stopped. We were there we had arrived at the place where I could finally see the reason for being there.  

Marco was looking down with a big smile on his face. Slowly I looked down too and I saw the magical reason for this torture.

“Mushrooms?” I shouted there were 3 mushrooms on the ground, that’s all there was “we risked Our life in the rain and cold for 5 hours for mushrooms?

Marco took one of the 3 mushroom and ate it. . .I took one too and ate it.

 “No Marco shouted “that one was poisonous” Marco immediately started to call someone.

 Oh, my God was I going to die? I looked down the mountain and thought: “Well at least I won’t have to walk another 5 hours walking down the mountain in the rain.”

The helicopter arrived about 30 minutes later and took me to the hospital. Only one week in Milan And this was the second time for me in hospital.

They pumped my stomach and I was fine.

But guess what time the nurse woke me up for my injections’
Five o’ clock in the morning.

1. What are mountains in John’s opinion?

2. Who invited John for a week end in the mountains?

3. What time did Marco wake up John?

4. What did John want to do before leaving?

5. What was Marco wearing on his head?

6. What happened to John’s feet?  

7. For how long did they walk before they stopped?

8. What was the magical reason for being there?

9. What did Marco do with the mushrooms?

10. After how long did the helicopter arrive?