| 15.3 Italian prepositions part 3 |
Besides that a distinction is to be made whether the stress is on the function of a building or the building itself. In case of public buildings (town hall, church, train station, etc.) the important thing is not the building itself, but the function. If a statement points to the function of a building, in other words if the concrete building is irrelevant, the preposition in is to be used. But if we are talking about a concrete building, then a is to be used. The stress is for instance on a concrete building if this building is described by an attribute.
| the stress is on the function | ||
| Vado in chiesa. |  |
|
| I go to church. | ||
| Sono nella chiesa. | |
|
| I am in the church. | ||
| the stress is on a concrete place | ||
| Vado alla chiesa che si trova nel centro della città. | |
|
| I go to the church in the center of the town. | ||
| Sono nella chiesa che si trova nel centro della città. | |
|
| I am in the church in the center of the town. | ||
| the stress is on the function | ||
| Devo andare nell' ospedale. | |
|
| I have to go to the hospital. | ||
| Sono nell' ospedale. | |
|
| I am in the hospital. | ||
| the stress is on a concrete place | ||
| Devo andare all' ospedale dov' è mia madre. | |
|
| I have to go the hospital where my mother is. | ||
| Sono nell' ospedale dov' è mia madre. | |
|
| I am in the hospital where my mother is. | ||
| the stress is on the function | ||
| Questo pomeriggio andiamo in biblioteca | |
|
| Tody we go to the library. | ||
| Siamo nella biblioteca. | |
|
| We are at the library. | ||
| the stress is on a concrete place | ||
| Questo pomeriggio andiamo alla biblioteca che si trova vicino alla nostra casa. | |
|
| Today we go to the library next to our house. | ||
| Siamo nella biblioteca che si trova vicino alla nostra casa. | |
|
| We are in the library next to our house. | ||
Summary: Concerning the residence at some place there is no difference. Whether we point to the function of a buildung or to the building in both cases in is used.
But concerning the movement to a place there is a difference. The preposition in is used if we point to the function and the preposition a if we point to a buildung.
To the rules mentioned above there are exceptions as we are going to see at the next page.
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