Abbiamo già parlato di alcune preposizioni di movimento. In questa lezione ve ne presentiamo altre, ugualmente importanti e usate nelle everyday conversations (conversazioni di tutti i giorni). 

ACROSS e THROUGH (attraverso)

Across indica movimento da un lato all'altro di una superficie (nel senso della larghezza).

A dash across the nighttime terrain

Una corsa attraverso il terreno notturno

Caption 45, America's National Parks Grand Canyon - Part 2

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Può essere usata anche con verbi di stato in luogo:

There's a hairdresser across the road.

C'è un parrucchiere sull'altro lato della strada

Through indica passaggio da una parte all'altra all'interno di qualcosa (nel senso della profondità). Nota le espressioni through the binoculars / the window / the door... (attraverso il binocolo / la finestra / la porta...).

Well, sort of a bobsled run; mini sleds run through the forest.

Be', una sorta di pista da bob; mini slitte [che] corrono attraverso la foresta.

Caption 33, 16x9 - Cool Runnings Truth Behind Original Jamaican Bobsled Team - Part 2

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ALONG (lungo)

They walked along a path, hand in hand.

Camminarono lungo un sentiero, mano nella mano.

Caption 17, Basic Vocabulary Common words in context - Part 19

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AS FAR AS, UP (fino a)

entrambe segnalano la fine di un percorso:

Go as far as / up to the station and park there.

Vai fino alla stazione e parcheggia lì.  

TOWARDS (verso)

indica la direzione:

I'm going towards the station. Do you want a ride?

Sto andando verso la stazione. Vuoi un passaggio?

Caption 51, The Alphabet The Letter W

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PAST (dopo, oltre, al di là di)

Walk past the boutique shops on your right hand side

Prosegui oltre le boutique sul tuo lato destro

Caption 28, Giving Directions with Lauren and Matt

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Le preposizioni past e to vengono usate anche per esprimere l'ora: past per indicare di quanti minuti si supera l'ora intera, fino alla mezz'ora (half past)...; to per indicare quanti minuti mancano all'ora successiva. 

What time is it? -It's twenty past nine. (Che ore sono? -Sono le nove e venti.)

What's the time, please? -It's a quarter to three. (Che ore sono? -Manca un quarto alle tre).

UP (su), DOWN (giù)

indicano movimento verso l'alto o verso il basso.

They climbed up the hill.

Si sono arrampicati sulla collina.

The cat ran down the tree.

Il gatto è corso giù dall'albero.

Ricorda le preposizioni che si usano con i verbi che indicano "arrivare":

get to... arrivare a

arrive at... arrivare in un luogo (station, airport, my house)

arrive in... arrivare in una città o Paese (London, Britain, the USA)

reach + complemento oggetto - quindi nessuna preposizione - raggiungere, giungere a...

 

Ricorda anche leave a place (partire da un luogo), leave for a place (partire per un luogo).

There are two essential prepositions for talking about how long something has been happening with the present perfect (or present perfect continuous) tense. For and since are often confused or used incorrectly, however, so let’s do a quick clarification!

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

The preposition since can only be used to reference a point in time, NOT a duration. So you can say since 2001, since September, since last summer, or since Tuesday, but NOT since five days.

Tom and I have been working together on Rachel's English since two thousand twelve.

Caption 4, Exercises - Tongue Flexibility and the N [n] Sound

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In fact, since nineteen sixty-nine, fifteen other rare and endangered species have also been rescued from the brink.

Captions 50-51, BBC Planet Wild - Alien Animals - Part 5

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For, on the other hand, refers to a duration. It doesn’t matter if something has been happening for 20 minutes or for 20 years. 

We've been doing freestyle for a couple of weeks.

Caption 25, Kiteboarding - Sam Light Interview

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I have been working at the company Phonez and More for several months now.

Caption 1, Business English - Difficulties with coworkers and contracts - Part 1

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I've been on this boat for twenty-two years.

Caption 3, Aqua Quest - Boo Boo

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While for can also be used with the simple past tense or future tense, since is always a clear indicator of the present perfect or present perfect continuous (See this newsletter for more information!). 

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Further Learning
On Yabla English, for and since can be found in most videos! There is even one video in which a famous actor actually misuses the word since, which is indicated in the captions with sic (sic erat scriptum, Latin for "thus was it written"). Can you find it?
 

A preposition is a type of word that express spatial or temporal relations. Here is a list of known English prepositions. There is no set of rules for learning prepositions, and the prepositions from one language often do not translate directly into another. It's best to learn English prepositions by getting used to using them in context. Today, let's take a look at the preposition "at."

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

The preposition "at" can be used to express the time of day: 

And at three o'clock the Queen comes on and she gives her speech.

And at three o'clock the Queen comes on and she gives her speech.

Caption 24, Christmas Traditions - In the UK

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Or to indicate a place: 

As you can see behind me, we are at Buckingham Palace.

As you can see behind me, we are at Buckingham Palace.

Caption 1, In London with Lauren - Buckingham Palace

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Or to indicate an activity or proficiency with something:

So I'm very good at working as part of a team.

So I'm very good at working as part of a team.

Caption 34, Business English - The Job Interview

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Or very commonly when mentioning an email address. The "at symbol" (@) in an email address is also called... at!

You can email us at...

You can email us at...

Caption 50, The Egoscue Clinic of Austin - Exercises for Lower Back Pain

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BANNER PLACEHOLDER

Further Learning
Search for examples of the preposition "at" on Yabla English to see them used in a real-world context.