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- "Ho una cena con lui a gennai…
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Both a and in work before months. In this case, they are pretty much the same. a is more common in spoken language, whereas in sounds slightly more formal.
Apparently the preposition "a" in Italian can be translated as to/at/in depending the context.
Here is for more information http://italian.about.com/library/fare/blfare154a.htm
I know I should always check, but I always end up putting "ha" instead of "a" in the Type what you hear exercises. Are they supposed to sound the same?
I would not say that "ha" sounds exactly like "a". The sound of "ha" is somewhat stronger than "a". It is the same difference between "è" and "e". It is used in four cases to disambiguate different forms of "avere" from other, completely unrelated, words. In all these cases the "h" makes the following vowel stronger: - ho (I have), different from "o" (or) - hai (you have), different from "ai" (to the) - ha (he/she/it has), different from "a" (to) - hanno (they have), different from "anno" (year)
In fact there was some debate in Italy about this usage of "h": someone suggested to replace them with ò, ài, à and ànno to improve consistency.
The other, completely different, uses of "h" are: - To change how "c" and "g" are pronounced before "e" and "i" (ce/ci vs che/chi) - In some exclamations: "oh", "ah", "ehm". In this case, the "h" follows the vowel any may prolong it - In the name of some places, like e.g. "Santhià". It has no effect and can be completely ignored
The "h" in "ha" is silent (and in every italian word), so "a" and "ha" are pronounced the same. Which one should you use, depends on the context of the sentence.
If "I have a dinner with him" is "Ho una cena con lui" how do you say "I'm having dinner with him?" Avendo la cena con lui?
sto cenando con lui. "to have dinner" = cenar and the gerund is used to express on-going actions.
a proper noun, in america, is "a name used for an individual person, place, or organization, spelled with initial capital letters." for example: names: (Bob, Mary, etc.) places: (Italy, Mexico, California, etc.) organizations: (Apple, Boston Red Sox, etc.)
however in italy, "the days of the week, the months of the year, proper adjectives, a few proper nouns, and titles such as Mr., Mrs., and Miss." are not capitalized."
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If everyone starting each lesson, read the TIPS pre-lesson, so many answers to your questions are there...each time you start a new section of lesson, reread the TIPS to refresh the info!!!
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As I missed out the 'una = a' and still got it right, does that mean it doesn't matter if we use it or not. Have noticed sometimes it's mandatory to use the preposition, but am still not sure when.
Why does it let you use "in" for the word in, and now it says its not correct and that "a" is?
Because prepositions usually cannot be translated literally from one language to another. Sometimes you have to learn case by case.
in [month] = a [mese] (more usual) / in [mese]
