-Ma & Però (remember the accent, since "pero" is "pear tree") coordinative conjunctions: They both mean "but", hence, in most of the cases they are synonims. The main feature of the conjunction "ma", is that it can be used either to link two clauses (main & main or main & dependant) -ex. Vorrei venire alla festa, ma sono troppo stanco. = I would like to come to the party, but I am too tired.- OR two elements of a single sentence, generally adjectives -È bella ma stupida = She is beautiful but (she is also) stupid. On the other hand, "però" (but, however) is only used only when you need to link two clauses. They are also used in peculiar (and different) interjection in everyday language: like "Ma che diavolo..." = "What the hell?!"; "Ma non mi dire!" = "You! Don´t say that!"; "Però, niente male!" = "Well, not bad at all!". (please note that in the instances above, they can´t be switched.) -In (+article: nel, nello, nella/nei, negli, nelle) & A (al, allo, alla/ai, agli, alle), prepositions: They are translated as "In", "at" and "to", but their meaning varies depending on the instance. Well, my friend, I am sorry to tell you, that you may have to learn by heart how and when they are to be used... I´ll try to make a brief list, but the best you can do is to check on a good grammar book. (they will be listed according to their meaning, since italian grammars distinguish the complements by their meaning and not grammatical function, and I´m going to do the same). IN: -complemento di stato in luogo, still- ex: sono in casa. "I am at home"./ sono nella casa. "I´m in the house"/in televisione. "on tv". -complemento di moto a luogo, motion to- ex: vado in Francia. "I go to France". -c. moto per luogo, motion through- infilare la chiave nella toppa. "put the key into/through the keyhole" -c. tempo, time- ex: in estate. "in Summer". -c. di mezzo- ex. viaggio in macchina, "I travel by car" -c. di modo- ex: un libro scritto in inglese. "a book written in English." -c. di materia & quantità.- ex: una collana in argento. "a necklace made of silver", mi hanno picchiato in 30. "I was beaten up by 30 people. A:-c. stato in luogo- ex: sono a casa. "I´m at home" -c. moto a luogo- ex: vado a casa. "I go home", but also: vado a mangiare. "I go to eat". -c. termine- ex. ti do il mio libro. "I give you my book". -c. tempo- ex: a Novembre. "in November" -c. modo- ex: a caso. "(doing something) randomly" -c. causa- ex: a scrivere così tanto mi si consumano le dita. "writing so much, my fingers are wearing out" Indeed it was hard, but better than this I cannot do. Hope it helped.