| Let's look at the sentence pattern. |
| This pattern is the structure that all of our examples will follow. |
| Verb of movement + a / in + Place + [in + Means of Transportation]/[a piedi] |
| "Verb of movement + to + Place + [by + Means of Transportation]/[on foot]" |
| We start with a verb of movement, such as vado, which means "I go." This shows that someone is going from one place to another. |
| Then comes the preposition [a] or [in], depending on the place. Use [a] with specific places or establishments, especially in set expressions such as a scuola "to school" or a casa, "home." You will use [in] with most buildings or institutions, like in biblioteca, which means "to the library" or in palestra, meaning "to the gym." |
| Use [in] with countries or larger locations like in Italia "to Italy" or in città "in the city." |
| After that is the place you're going to. This could be any location. |
| And finally, we have the part: how you're getting there. You can say [in] plus means of transportation, like in macchina, meaning "by car" or in treno, meaning "by train," |
| or use a piedi to say "on foot." |
| Let's see how a line from the dialogue follows this pattern. |
| Vado alla Cantina a piedi. |
| "I'm going to La Cantina on foot." |
| In this sentence: |
| Vado is the verb of movement, meaning "I go." |
| Alla Cantina uses the preposition [a] and the place [la Cantina]—which contracts to alla Cantina—, meaning "to La Cantina." |
| A piedi shows the means of transportation—on foot. |
| So, Vado alla Cantina a piedi means "I'm going to La Cantina on foot." |
| Now you can use this structure to talk about where you're going and how you're getting there in Italian! |
| In Italy, people usually drive cars for short trips and take trains for longer ones. Even in big cities, metros aren't very common—buses and streetcars are used more often. |
| Now let's look at some speaking examples. |
| Vado in biblioteca in autobus. |
| "I go to the library by bus." |
| Can you see how the pattern applies here? |
| Let's break it down: |
| Here, Vado is the verb of movement, meaning "I go." |
| In biblioteca shows the preposition plus place. We use [in] here because biblioteca is a general place, like a building or institution. |
| Then, in autobus tells us the means of transportation, using the preposition in plus autobus, which means "by bus." |
| So that is how Vado in biblioteca in autobus fits the pattern: |
| Verb of movement (vado) + in + place (biblioteca) + in + means of transportation (autobus). |
| Here's another example |
| Vado a scuola a piedi. |
| "I go to school on foot." |
| Vado a scuola a piedi. |
| "I go to school on foot." |
| Let's try one more, |
| Vado a casa in metropolitana. |
| "I go home by metro." |
| Vado a casa in metropolitana. |
| "I go home by metro." |
| In Italy, the "metro" is officially called metropolitana, but it's commonly referred to simply as metro. |
| Another one. |
| Vado a Roma in macchina. |
| "I go to Rome by car." |
| Vado a Roma in macchina. |
| "I go to Rome by car." |
| One last example. |
| Vado in città in taxi. |
| "I go to the city by taxi." |
| Vado in città in taxi. |
| "I go to the city by taxi." |
Comments
Hide