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Il mercato all'ingrosso vende la stoffa al metro.

Il mercato all'ingrosso vende la stoffa al metro.
The wholesale market sells the fabric by the meter.
From Lesson 433:Rates and distribution (a)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Il mercato all'ingrosso vende la stoffa al metro.

Why do we use al metro instead of per metro to mean "by the meter"?
Italian uses the preposition a to express rates, distribution, and prices. When talking about units of measurement like metro or chilo, this a must combine with the definite article to form an articulated preposition, which is why we get al metro instead of just a metro or a literal translation like per il metro.
Is the phrase all'ingrosso also an example of the rate-marking preposition?
No, it is a fixed phrase that means "wholesale" or "in bulk". It uses the articulated preposition all' (combining a and l') before the noun ingrosso, but it acts as a descriptive adverbial phrase rather than a rate. For contrast, the phrase for selling "retail" is al dettaglio.
If I wanted to say the market sells fabric "by weight", would I still use the articulated preposition al?
Yes! Following the exact same rule for rates and units of measurement, you would use the preposition a combined with the definite article for the word peso (weight), resulting in the phrase al peso.
Could I drop the article in la stoffa and just say vende stoffa?
You could, but it slightly changes the nuance. Saying vende stoffa acts like a partitive, meaning it sells "some fabric". Using la stoffa refers to fabric as a whole category, which is very common in Italian when discussing general goods, even though English might drop the article.

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