Learn Italian: A colazione mangio pane e marmellata. - At breakfast I eat bread and jam.

In Italian, the preposition a (at/to) is used without a definite article for the main meals of the day. You will always see a colazione (at breakfast), a pranzo (at lunch), and a cena (at dinner).

In English I would say 'for breakfast'. Can I use per colazione here instead?

Yes, you can! Both a colazione and per colazione are perfectly natural and mean the same thing. A colazione translates more directly to 'at breakfast', while per colazione means 'for breakfast'.

Does mangio mean 'I eat' as a habit, or 'I am eating' right now?

It can be either! The Italian present tense covers both ongoing actions and regular habits. Without extra context, A colazione mangio pane e marmellata usually describes a daily routine ('I eat'), but if you are sitting at the table right now, it can also mean 'I am eating'.

I learned that Italian loves using articles like il or la. Why are there no articles before pane e marmellata?