atterrare su
/at.terˈra.re ˈsu/word by word
To land on in Italian is atterrare su.
The phrase atterrare su is used to describe the action of coming down from the air to settle on a surface, such as an aircraft or a bird.
How does it change in a sentence?
The preposition su is used to indicate the surface that is being landed upon. Note that when landing on a specific feminine noun, such as luna (moon), the preposition su and the article la combine to form the articulated preposition sulla.
How do you pronounce it?
/at.terˈra.re ˈsu/. The word has 5 syllables, with the stress on the 3rd syllable.
Did you know?
- The preposition su comes from the Latin word sūsum, which specifically denoted an upward direction. This creates a linguistic irony where the word for 'on' in atterrare su originates from a word meaning 'upwards'.
- While atterrare su works for planes, Italians use attraccare for a boat docking at a pier. Despite their similar sounds, they are not interchangeable.
- In a figurative sense, if you 'land' in a weird situation, Italians are more likely to use the verb capitare than a literal translation of 'to land'.
Examples in context
- Era il primo uomo ad atterrare sulla luna.He was the first man to land on the moon.Tatoeba #1561952 by Guybrush88, translation #295913 by CK
- Rosetta proverà ad atterrare su una cometa tra qualche ora.Rosetta will try to land on a comet in a few hours.Tatoeba #3625505 by Guybrush88, translation #3625153 by Hybrid
- La farfalla si è posata delicatamente sul fiore.The butterfly landed delicately on the flower.
- Dopo l'atterraggio, siamo scesi sulla pista di atterraggio.After landing, we descended onto the runway.
- L'uccello è riuscito ad atterrare su quel ramo.The bird managed to land on that branch.
- 1 more sentence on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Martina and Alessandro are watching birds in the garden.
- MartinaGuarda quel piccolo uccellino!Look at that little bird!
- AlessandroDove sta per atterrare su quella recinzione?Is it about to land on that fence?
- MartinaSì, sembra che voglia riposarsi lì.Yes, it looks like it wants to rest there.
- AlessandroÈ davvero molto grazioso, Alessandro.It is really very graceful, Alessandro.
Sources
- IPA marked “word by word” joins the Wiktionary pronunciations of each word (atterrare, su) and can differ in connected speech.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries atterrare, su, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
