nel

Nel is the contracted form of the Italian preposition in combined with the definite article il, used to mean "in the" before masculine singular nouns that begin with a consonant. It is part of a broader system of in- contractions that attach to different definite articles to produce variations such as nello (in + lo), nell' (in + l’), nella (in + la), nei (in + i), and nelle (in + le).

Examples include nel libro (in the book), nel parco, and nel 1990 (in 1990). For nouns that start with lo- or with certain clusters, the corresponding forms are nello libro or nello stadio (in the stadium). Before a word that begins with a vowel, the form is nell', as in nell'acqua or nell'anno. The feminine singular form is nella casa (in the house), and the plural forms are nei libri (in the books) and nelle case (in the houses).

Nel functions both as a spatial preposition and as a temporal marker in phrases such as nel 1984, nel corso della giornata, indicating a point or period in time. It is widely used in standard Italian prose, conversation, and written text.

In addition to its primary grammatical role, nel may appear in fixed expressions and idioms where the exact contraction is determined by the gender, number, and initial sound of the following noun. Etymologically, it derives from the combination of in and the definite article il, with assimilation producing the contracted form.