CONTINENTS, COUNTRIES AND REGIONS
When speaking of a country, a region, a continent, etc., in Italian
a definite article is usually required (while in English this does not happen).
Names such as France, China, India, Europe, America etc. in Italian are referred to
as "the France", "the China", "the India", "the Europe", "the America", etc.
The article is affected by the name's gender and number, according
to the same rules followed by any other noun (see paragraph 2.4).
Continents, countries, states, regions, etc. are more often given a masculine
gender, despite the names end with different vowels, or even with a consonant (original names).
il Messico = Mexico
il Vaticano = the Vatican
il Colorado
il Giappone = Japan
lo Zimbabwe
il Mississippi
il Malawi
il Laos
il Bahrain
l'Ecuador
l'Iraq
(plural nouns)
gli Stati Uniti = the United States
gli Emirati Arabi = the Arab Emirates
The names whose last vowel is -a are usually feminine.
l'Italia = Italy
la Corea = Korea
l'Argentina
la Bielorussia = Belarus
la Nuova Zelanda = New Zealand
l'Europa = Europe
l'Asia
l'Oceania
la Sardegna = Sardinia
la Virginia
(feminine plural nouns, always referred to groups of islands)
le Filippine = the Philippines
le Barbados = Barbados (Islands)
le Fiji = Fiji (Islands)
But when a name is the original one, it may sometimes be masculine, despite the final -a.
il Canada
lo Sri Lanka
il Nebraska
il Nevada
Few countries, among which very small ones, reject the article:
Taiwan
Hong Kong
Andorra
San Marino
Samoa
Singapore
They are almost treated as city names rather than country names, as shown in these
examples:
vengono dalla Malesia = they come from Malaysia
...BUT
vengono da Singapore = they come from Singapore
il governo della Slovenia = the government of Slovenia
...BUT
il governo di San Marino = the government of San Marino
dalla Thailandia al Vietnam = from Thailand to Vietnam
...BUT
da Taiwan a Hong Kong = from Taiwan to Hong Kong
la capitale della Spagna = Spain's capital
...BUT
la capitale di Andorra = Andorra's capital
The names of countries, continents and regions always require prepositions to be compound
(preposition + article). Only preposition in, as an exception, causes the
article to be dropped.
| il Piemonte = Piedmont (region) with prepositions: del Piemonte = Piedmont's, of Piedmont al Piemonte = to Piedmont dal Piemonte = from Piedmont col Piemonte = with Piedmont sul Piemonte = about Piedmont, over Piedmont per il Piemonte = for Piedmont tra il Piemonte = between Piedmont fra il Piemonte = between Piedmont ...BUT in Piemonte = in Piedmont | la Germania = Germany (country) with prepositions: della Germania = Germany's, of Germany, German alla Germania = to Germany dalla Germania = from Germany con la Germania = with Germany sulla Germania = about Germany, over Germany per la Germania = for Germany tra la Germania = between Germany fra la Germania = between Germany ...BUT in Germania = in Germany |
In the same way:
dell'Asia = of Asia
...BUT
in Asia = in Asia
dall'Europa = from Europe
...BUT
in Europa = in Europe
fra la Borgogna e la Normandia = between Burgundy and Normandy
...BUT
in Borgogna e in Normandia = in Burgundy and in Normandy
The compound preposition nel / nella (i.e. in + article), though,
may be used when the name is followed by a geographic adjective (i.e. Western Samoa,
Upper Volta, Northern Ireland, etc.), and it is always required when the name
is followed by an adjective expressing non-geographic qualities (ancient Egypt, rainy Britain,
small Andorra, etc.).
in Germania = in Germany
nella Germania Occidentale or in Germania Occidentale = in West Germany
nella Germania del XV secolo = in 15th century Germany
in America = in America
nel Nordamerica or in Nordamerica = in North America
nel freddo Nordamerica = in the cold North America
in Oriente = in the Orient, in the East
nel Medio Oriente or in Medio Oriente = in the Middle East
nell'affascinante Oriente = in the fascinating East
in Africa = in Africa
nell'Africa Centrale or in Africa Centrale = in Central Africa
nell'Africa misteriosa = in the misterious Africa
To express this in four general rules:
- simple preposition in can only be used for country names and continent names alone (i.e. without an adjective);
- if the country's name is plural (United States, Philippines, etc.), only a compound
preposition (nei, negli, nelle) may be used;- when the noun comes with an adjective, if the latter expresses a quality (old Europe,
sunny Spain, etc.), only the compound preposition (nel, nello, nella) may be used;
- both simple and compound prepositions are allowed when the adjective may be considered
as a part of the country's or continent's name (Middle East, South Africa, North America, etc.).CITIES
City names reject articles, thus all prepositions used are simple ones.
Varsavia = Warsaw
with prepositions:
di Varsavia = Warsaw's, of Warsaw, Warsaw
a Varsavia = to Warsaw
da Varsavia = from Warsaw
con Varsavia = with Warsaw
su Varsavia = about Warsaw, over Warsaw
per Varsavia = for Warsaw
tra Varsavia = between Warsaw
fra Varsavia = between Warsaw
in Varsavia = in Warsaw
Only in the case an adjective is appended (mediaeval Rome, gorgeous Paris, etc.)
a definite article is required, as if indicating "one among many cities" (prehistoric Rome, ancient Rome,
mediaeval Rome, modern Rome, etc.).
In Italian, all city names are feminine (città , city, is feminine)
and, obviously, singular.
la vecchia Varsavia = (the) old Warsaw
with prepositions:
della vecchia Varsavia = old Warsaw's, of old Warsaw, old Warsaw
alla vecchia Varsavia = to old Warsaw
dalla vecchia Varsavia = from old Warsaw
con la vecchia Varsavia = with old Warsaw
sulla vecchia Varsavia = about old Warsaw, over (the) old Warsaw
per la vecchia Varsavia = for old Warsaw
tra la vecchia Varsavia = between old Warsaw
fra la vecchia Varsavia = between old Warsaw
nella vecchia Varsavia = in old WarsawCHOOSING THE RIGHT PREPOSITION WITH GEOGRAPHIC NAMES
Italian and English use different prepositions with verbs indicating movement or position.MOVEMENT
While English always uses to (you go to Italy, he travels to Asia, he returns
to Berlin, etc.), Italian uses preposition in for continents and countries, and
preposition a for cities. In both cases the simple form of the preposition is used.
NOTE - verb andare (to go) is irregular, and will be fully discussed in
a future paragraph; for the sake of an easy comprehension, only one inflection
(vado = I go) has been used in the following examples.
io vado in Asia, in Europa, in Oceania I go to Asia, to Europa, to Oceania io vado in Spagna, in Danimarca, in Grecia I go to Spain, to Denmark, to Greece ...BUT io vado a Firenze, a Londra, a Los Angeles I go to Florence, to London, to Los Angeles POSITION
English uses in (I stay in Italy, he was born in Asia, he works in Berlin, etc.),
whereas Italian uses the same prepositions in for continents and countries, and
a for cities.
vivere = to live
lavorare = to work
dormire = to sleep
io vivo in Asia, in Europa, in Oceania I live in Asia, in Europa, in Oceania lavoravano in Spagna, in Danimarca, in Grecia they worked in Spain, in Denmark, in Greece ...BUT hai dormito a Firenze, a Londra, a Los Angeles you slept in Florence, in London, in Los Angeles
To memorize easily the correct use of these prepositions, try to think of them as
"used for wide places" (continents, countries, in) and "for smaller places"
(cities, a), both for movement and position.
This article was used with permission from:
Teach Yourself Italian