Italian 2.1. Prepositions

Prepositions are essential in the constructions of sentences in any language including Italian.

List of Prepositions in Italian

Here are some of the most used prepositions in Italian with the most common meanings in different contexts.

Prep.	Meaning	Examples
a	to	Vado a scuola la mattina.	I go to school in the morning.
	at	Finirò a mezzogiorno.	I will finish at noon.
	by	Fatto a mano.	Made by hand (handmade).
	in	Vivo a Roma.	I live in Rome.
	on	Tornerò a casa a piedi.	I will come back home on foot.
	per	Costa 20 dollari a notte.	It costs 20 dollars per night.
accanto a	beside next to	C’è un gatto accanto alla sedia.	There is a cat beside the chair.
attraverso	across through	È possibile nuotare attraverso il fiume.	It is possible to swim across the river.
con	with	Parla con il suo amico.	He speaks with his friend.
contro	against	Sono contro l’ingiustizia.	I am against injustice.
da	from	Ho viaggiato da Londra alla Corea.	I traveled from London to Korea.
	since	Non fumo da aprile.	I haven’t smoked since April.
	for	Non fumo da due anni.	I haven’t smoked for two years.
	as (a)	Da bambino, ero timido.	As a kid, I was shy.
	by	È stato dipinto da Bosch.	It was painted by Bosch.
davanti a di fronte a	in front of	Sono davanti alla scuola.	I am in front of the school.
dentro	inside	La palla è dentro la scatola.	The ball is inside the box.
di	of	Il colore di quella macchina è blu.	The color of that car is blue.
	from	Lei è di Madrid.	She is from Madrid.
	about	Parlano di lui.	They talk about him.
dietro	behind	L’albero è dietro la casa.	The tree is behind the house.
dopo	after	Ho dormito dopo pranzo oggi.	I slept after lunch today.
durante	during	Possiamo uscire durante il giorno.	We can go out during the day.
fino a	until	Ho lavorato fino a mezzanotte.	I worked until midnight.
	as far as	La luce arriva fino al parco.	The light reaches as far as the park.
fuori di	outside	Il garage è fuori dal centro commerciale.	The garage is outside the shopping mall.
in	in	Vivo in Italia.	I live in Italy.
	to	Andrò in Italia.	I will go to Italy.
lungo	along	Ci sono case lungo il lago.	There are houses along the lake.
per	for (duration)	Lavorerò lì per due anni.	I will work there for two years.
	for (destination)	Domani partirò per Barcellona.	I will leave for Barcelona tomorrow.
	by	Ti ho contattato per telefono.	I contacted you by phone.
	because of	Soffrivano per la mancanza d’acqua.	They suffered because of the lack of water.
	in order to	Studiamo per imparare.	We study in order to learn.
prima di	before	Ti chiamo prima di partire.	I will call you before leaving.
secondo	according to	Secondo la legge, è vietato.	According to the law, it is prohibited.
senza	without	Un pesce non può vivere senza acqua.	A fish can’t live without water.
sopra	above over on top of	La mosca è sopra il tavolo.	The fly is above the table.
sotto	under	Il gatto è sotto la sedia.	The cat is under the chair.
su	on	La chiave è sul tavolo.	The key is on the table.
	about	Il dibattito su quell’incidente è finito.	The debate about that incident is over.
tra fra	between	L’uccello è bloccato tra i rami.	The bird is stuck between the branches.
	among	Sono il più alto tra i miei amici.	I am the tallest among my friends.
	in	Partiremo tra una settimana.	We will leave in a week.
verso	toward	Corse verso l’uscita.	She ran toward the exit.
vicino a	near	Vivo vicino alla città.	I live near the city.

Contraction of Prepositions with the Definite Article

The prepositions “a,” “da,” “di,” “in,” and “su” contract when followed by a definite article.

Remember that there are seven definite articles in Italian: “l’,” “lo,” “il,” “la,” “i,” “gli,” and “le.”

This results in the following possible combinations of prepositions in Italian:

	l’	lo	il	la	i	gli	le
a	all’	allo	al	alla	ai	agli	alle
da	dall’	dallo	dal	dalla	dai	dagli	dalle
di	dell’	dello	del	della	dei	degli	delle
in	nell’	nello	nel	nella	nei	negli	nelle
su	sull’	sullo	sul	sulla	sui	sugli	sulle

Although optional, you may also use or encounter the following three contractions of the preposition “con” (with), especially in spoken Italian:

	il	la	l’
con	col	colla	coll’

Other prepositions in Italian do not contract.

Examples

Contractions add to the complexity of the prepositions in Italian. Practice is your best approach to learn them. Here are some examples:

a	+	lo	=	allo	Verrò con te allo stadio.	I’ll go with you to the stadium.
da	+	il	=	dal	Voglio imparare dal libro.	I want to learn from the book.
di	+	la	=	della	Il colore della macchina è blu.	The color of the car is blue.
in	+	l’	=	nell’	La valigia è nell’armadio.	The suitcase is in the wardrobe.
su	+	gli	=	sugli	C’è molta polvere sugli occhiali.	There is a lot of dust on the glasses.

Dropping the Definite Article in Common Expressions

The definite article is dropped from some expressions that are commonly used in daily life such as: “a casa” (at home), “in macchina” (by car), “in centro” (in downtown), etc.

“a”

The preposition “a” is used to mean “in” when referring to the proper name of a city (or a smaller area), e.g., “Vivo a Roma” (I live in Rome).

For larger areas, we use the preposition “in,” e.g., “Vivo in California” (I live in California), “L’ho visto in Spagna” (I saw it in Spain).

“in”

The preposition “in” generally means “in” in English.

However, when referring to a destination that is larger than a city, the preposition “in” can also be translated as “to,” e.g., “Andrò in California” (I will go to California), “Ho viaggiato in Spagna” (I traveled to Spain).

“Da”

The preposition “da” can have several meanings:

1. The basic meaning of “from” in English with its versatile use to indicate the starting point of a movement, source or origin, separation, etc.

For example:

Ho viaggiato da Londra alla Corea.	I traveled from London to Korea.
Vengo da Firenze.	I come (am) from Florence.
Separa l’acqua da questa miscela.	Separate the water from this mixture.

2. The equivalent of “since” or “for” in time expressions that typically use the present perfect or present perfect continuous tense in English.

For example:

Non fumo da aprile.	I haven’t smoked since April.
Non fumo da due anni.	I haven’t smoked for two years.

Notice that, in Italian, the present tense is used before “da” to convey the equivalent meaning in English.

Keep in mind that to describe a defined duration in the future, the preposition “per” must be used instead. For example:

Lavoro lì da due anni.	I have worked there for two years.
Lavorerò lì per due anni.	I will work there for two years.

3. The equivalent of “to” or “for” when used to indicate purpose or reason.

For example:

Qualcosa da bere	Something to drink
Una casa da vendere	A house for sale

4. The meaning of being at someone’s house or workplace. In this context, “da” is often translated as “at,” but can also mean “to” if preceded by the verb “go.”

For example:

Siamo da Marco.	We are at Marco’s place.
Domani vado dal dentista.	I will go to the dentist tomorrow.

5. The meaning of the preposition “by” in English, referring to an agent in the passive voice.

For example:

Un software sviluppato da Microsoft.	A software developed by Microsoft.
Dipinto da un artista anonimo.	Painted by an anonymous artist.

6. The expression “as (a) …” in English.

For example:

Te lo dico da amico.	I tell you as a friend.
Da bambini, ci divertivamo molto.	As kids, we had a lot of fun.

Expressing the Meaning of “about” in Italian

To express the meaning of “about” (e.g., to talk about someone or watch a documentary about something), we often use “su” or “circa.” For example:

Ho visto un documentario su quella guerra.	I watched a documentary about that war.
Ho letto un libro circa la vita in Giappone.	I read a book about life in Japan.

In some contexts, we could use “di” to mean “about.” For example:

Parlano di lui.	They talk about him.
Voglio leggere un libro di scienze.	I want to read a book about science.

The Prepositions “Tra” & “Fra”

The preposition “tra” or “fra” often means “between.”

If used to indicate the future, it can mean “in,” as in: “Ci vediamo tra un mese” (See you in a month).

Next: Present Indicative Tense II: Irregular Verbs

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