THE MOST EFFICIENT AND EFFECTIVE WAY TO VISUALIZE SENTENCES.

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When you decide to study Italian--or any foreign languages, for that matter--textbooks and teachers always favor one typical approach, which is teaching you grammar and looking at sentences one element at a time. First they want you to learn the articles, the verbs, the nouns, the singulars and plurals, etc. And initially--meaning for the first month of learning--that might even work. But then they force you to continue down that path for years, because that's the easiest way--at least for them. Unfortunately, this makes it harder for you to speak independently, let alone fluently.

Therefore, you need to overturn the old schemes and take on a fresh new perspective.

What you've done so far is learning each single component of a sentence quite mnemonically. Then you've filled out gaps on textbooks, print-outs, or hand-outs for years.

There's only one use for this type of analysis: learning the names of each grammatical component. If you're trying to speak a language, however, years of this will kill every effort you make. Don't believe me? Check your textbook. Isn't that the way you've been taught so far?

From here on out, you need to look at a sentence from a communicative perspective.

We are going to break a sentence down into word groups rather than single words. Each word group represents one added piece of information. In turn, each piece of information is functional to what you're trying to communicate.

"Fine," you will say. "How do I know where one word group ends and the next one begins?"

First, you identify subject, verb, and direct object complement in a sentence. Then you put them aside for a second.

So, in a sentence like:

"Mangio sempre le lasagne per pranzo nel giorno di Natale a casa di mia zia con tutta la mia famiglia per celebrare questa festa importante in un'atmosfera calda e intima con del cibo speciale nel pieno rispetto della tradizione italiana."

io is the subject (the element that does the main action).

mangio is the verb.

le lasagne is the direct object complement (the element that receives the action).

Take a quick glance at the rest of that long sentence. You will notice there are many prepositions in there.

So here is the rule you were looking for:

EACH WORD GROUP STARTS WITH A PREPOSITION AND ENDS WHEN YOU ENCOUNTER THE NEXT PREPOSITION.

So the word groups in the sentence above are:

per pranzo // nel giorno // di Natale // a casa // di mia zia // con tutta la mia famiglia // per celebrare questa festa importante // in un'atmosfera calda e intima // con del cibo speciale // nel pieno rispetto // della tradizione italiana.

So now you also understand why we need to isolate subject, verb, and object complement in a sentence. Because they are the only elements that are never ever introduced by a preposition.

So now something should unlock. If prepositions introduce word groups, and if each word group represents some additional information with a specific communicative function, then each preposition is strictly connected to that specific communicative function.

You see? It's the simplest kind of syllogism:

A=B

B=C

Therefore, A=C.

nel giorno indicates when the action took place.

di Natale specificies on which day exactly.

a casa tells where.

di mia zia indicates whose house.

con tutta la mia famiglia tells with whom.

per celebrare questa festa importante identifies the purpose.

in un'atmosfera calda e intima expresses where or in which condition.

etc.

Necessarily, one function of the preposition 'in' is to indicate time. The function of 'di' is often to specify something. 'A' often introduces place. 'Con' is for company. 'Per' is for purpose ('scopo'). 'In' introduces an indication of space.

Just remember that each preposition can cover multiple functions.

What is the takeaway from this article?

1) Consider a word group (and no longer single words) as a fundamental unit.

2) Each word group introduces some information and has a communicative function.

3) Each word group begins with a preposition.

4) Each preposition is used to introduce one piece of additional information.

5) You need to study prepositions by their function rather than by how you translate them to your own native language.

To be clear, this is something Italians start learning in 1st or 2nd grade. It is a kind of analysis called 'Analisi logica'. You can look it up and utilize it as a most powerful tool to better understand prepositions, use them effectively, and visualize sentences in a practical way that leads to efficient and quick sentence-making.

And this is The JP Method for Italian!