Use of italian preposition ('da' vs 'in')

Ciao,

io ha una domanda a chiedere. 

From what i understand, 
'da' is used to mean from, by while in just means in in English.
For this example that I saw on my assessment book, "Lui viaggia in macchina (He travels by car)", shouldn't it be Lui vaiggia da macchina instead? 

Grazie

Hi Rachelyeo,

Io ho una domanda da chiedere, like in the previous question. Ha is used for he/she/it!

English and Italian prepositions behave differently, and a direct translation from one to the other can sometimes lead to a mistake.

While English uses by, for example, Italian uses in, literally "to travel in car". Of course it doesn't make sense in English, because prepositions behave differently. Consider this one too:

I go on foot. (on)
Vado a piedi. (at)

One could be tempted to translate it as "vado su piede", as in English, but a piedi literally means "at feet". It will all come with practice.

Hope this helps!

Lucia
 

Buongiorno! Bene, grazie.

Io ho una domanda da chiedere, why is da used instead of a?

When would I know that "da" is the appropriate word to mean "to (do something)" instead of "a"?

Tante grazie

Buon pomeriggio, Rachelyeo! :)

You may find this topic useful: https://members.rocketlanguages.com/members/forum/italian-grammar/i-need-clarity-with-di-a

This paragraph in particular:

"The English construction "something to [verb]" is always rendered as "qualcosa da [ verb in -are, -ere, -ire] in Italian. It's the way this saying works, and you could rewrite it like this:

Qualcosa da bere = qualcosa che può essere bevuto (something that can be drunk)
Qualcosa da mangiare = qualcosa che può essere mangiato (something that can be eaten)
Qualcosa da leggere = qualcosa che può essere letto (something that can be read)

The latter forms are very seldom used in the language, however both sentences have the same meaning.

A similar construction can be found in:
C'è da andare a prendere il latte. Andare wants an a in front of an infinite verb. C'è da can be translated as "There is to". A literal translation would be "There is to go to take the milk", meaning someone has to go buy some milk. The first to is translated with da, because it belongs to the "c'è da" construction, and the secondto, being between andare and an infinite verb, is rendered as a.
Non c'è nulla da fare. There is nothing to do. [Non c'è nulla che può essere fatto]
Non c'è molto da fare. There is not much to do. [Non c'è molto che può essere fatto]
Cosa c'è da mangiare? What is there to eat? [What is there that can be eaten?]"

Hope this helps!

Lucia