ILGUR: Italian Language, Grammar and Usage Resource

(this post is under construction and will be edited in the coming days for completeness!)

The preposition con, da and a are often used to express a ‘manner of being’. Manner of being expresses the way(how) something is or (how) it is made and can be used with people and things:

• The preposition, con, is used to explain the way in which someone or something is:

  Quest’uomo con i pantaloni stretti è un amico di Amelia.
  This man with the tight pants is a friend of Amelia’s.

• The preposition, da, can mean “with” or “who/that has”:

  Mia sorella dai begli occhi è sposata. (dai begli occhi = con begli occhi, che ha begli occhi)
  My sister who has beautiful eyes is married. My sister with beautiful eyes is married.

• The preposition, da, can mean ‘come’ (like):

  La tua macchina ha un clacson distinto da un grande camion.
  Your car has a distinct horn like a large truck.

• The preposition, da, before an infinitive can signify a need/necessity:

  Ci sono molte cose da fare. (da = that need)
  There are many things to do. There are many things that need doing.

• The preposition, a, can also mean “with” or “who/that has”:

  Il vaso a righe si trova sul tavolo.
  The stripped vase is on the table. The vase with stripes is on the table. The vase that has stripes is on the table.

• The articulated preposition, alla, can mean ‘like’ or ‘with the style of’. You will often see it used with name of famous people, important works of, important books and films, etc:

  Ti piace la musica alla Beethoven?
  Do you like music in Beethoven’s style? Do you like music like Beethoven’s?

• The articulated preposition, alla, is often used in cooking to describe meals from certain regions or those attributed to specific cities or people:

  Spaghetti alla carbonara
  Pasta alla siciliana
  Spaghetta alla bolognese

• The prepositions, da and a, are used in Italian to form new words by acting as a bridge between two different words:

  La racchetta da tennis = tennis racquet
  La barca a vela = yacht