Italian prepositions: the complete guide

As we learn Italian, we encounter vocabulary words from a variety of grammatical categories. Previously we have covered Italian adverbs and conjunctions, and in this article we focus on Italian prepositions.

A preposition is a part of speech that links different elements in a sentence, establishes connections between them, and shows how they are related. In Italian, prepositions can be followed by a noun, a pronoun, or an infinitive verb.

Unfortunately, most of the time there isn’t an exact correspondence between Italian and English prepositions.

Here are the prepositions you’ll encounter most in Italian:

Table: The most common Italian prepositions

Italian preposition	translation
con	with
di	of, about, from, by, than
a	at, to, in, on
da	from, by, as, since, for
in	in, at, by
su	on, above, over, about, out of
tra / fra	between, among, within, in
per	for, to, in order to, because

As you may have already guessed from the above table, Italian prepositions can have different meanings depending on the context. I’ll take you through each of these tiny words one by one.

The Preposition “Con”

“Con” corresponds pretty neatly to the English preposition “with,” and is used to talk about being with someone. Let me give you an example:

« Ieri pomeriggio ho fatto i compiti con Ilaria  »
(“Yesterday afternoon I did my homework with Ilaria”)

The Preposition “Di”

Depending on the context, the Italian preposition “di” corresponds to one of the following English prepositions: “of”, “about”, “from”, “by”, and “than”.

In Italian, “di” is a preposition which is used to:

• say where someone is from:
  « Laura è di Venezia  »
  (“Laura is from Venice”)
• show possession of something:
  « Questa agenda è di Sabrina »
  (“This is Sabrina’s organizer”)
• talk about age:
  « Valentina ha un fratello di 9 anni »
  (“Valentina has a 9-year-old brother”)
• indicate the material of which something is made:
  « Oggi ho messo gli orecchini d'oro che mi hai regalato  »
  (“Today I’m wearing the gold earrings you gave me”)
• indicate the subject a person is talking about:
  « Chiara parla sempre di libri »
  (“Chiara always talks about books”)

The preposition “di” is also used in comparisons. Let me give you an example to get an idea of how it works:

« Lorenzo parla inglese molto meglio di me  »
(“Lorenzo speaks English much better than I do”)

Remark: The Italian preposition “di” is similar to the French preposition “de”. In fact, they have the same etymology as they both originate from the Latin preposition “dē”.
(related article: Similarities between Latin and Italian)

The Preposition “A”

You can translate the tiny word “a” into English as “at”, “to”, “in,” or “on.” It is used to:

• talk about going somewhere:
  « Alessio deve andare a scuola  »
  (“Alessio has to go to school”)
• talk about being at a specific place:
  « Siamo stati a casa tutta la sera  »
  (“We were home all evening”)
• talk about time:
  « Ho una lezione di italiano a mezzogiorno  »
  (“I have an Italian lesson at noon”)
• indicate the receiver of something:
  « Ho spedito una lettera a Nicola »
  (“I sent a letter to Nicola”)

The Preposition “Da”

Depending on the context, the preposition “da” corresponds to one of the following English prepositions: “from”, “by”, “as”, “since”, and “for”.

In Italian, “da” is a preposition which is used to:

• indicate someone’s origin:
  « Mauro viene da Torino, in Piemonte »
  (“Mauro comes from Turin, in Piedmont”)
• indicate the amount of time since something has happened:
  « Daniel vive in Italia da sette mesi  »
  (“Daniel has been living in Italy for seven months”)
• indicate by whom something was done:
  « Siamo stati serviti da un cameriere che parlava bene italiano »
  (“We were served by a waiter who was fluent in Italian”)

The Preposition “In”

You can translate “in” into English as “in,” “at,” and “by.” It is used to talk about:

• being in or going to a country, region or province:
  « Marco e Camilla si sono trasferiti in Toscana »
  (“Marco e Camilla moved to Tuscany”)
• a place where someone is going:
  « Paolo sta andando in aeroporto »
  (“Paolo is going to the airport”)
• periods of the year:
  « In estate piove raramente qui  »
  (“It rarely rains in summer here”)
• means of transport:
  « Sono andato a Trieste in treno  »
  (“I went to Trieste by train”)

The Preposition “Su”

You can translate the tiny word “su” into English as “on,” “above,” “over,” “about,” and “out of.” It can refer to:

• the position of something:
  « Ho appoggiato il giornale su un tavolino »
  (“I placed the newspaper on a little table”)
• a topic:
  « Mi sono diplomata con una tesi su Pirandello »
  (“I graduated with a thesis on Pirandello”)
• ratios:
  « In sette casi su dieci »
  (“In seven cases out of ten”)

The Preposition “Tra/fra”

In Italian, the prepositions “tra” and “fra” have the same meaning, and you can translate them into English as “between,” “among,” “within,” and “in.” “Tra” and “fra” are used to refer to:

• space between two elements:
  « La scuola si trova tra la palestra e la libreria  »
  (“The school is located between the gym and the library”)
• time to something in the future:
  « Emma si laurea tra due mesi  »
  (“Emma is graduating in two months”)
• comparisons:
  « Tra le lingue derivate dal latino, l’italiano è la più bella secondo me  »
  (“Among the languages derived from Latin, Italian is the most beautiful one in my opinion”)

The Preposition “Per”

You can translate the Italian preposition “per” into English as “for,” “to,” “in order to,” and “because.” It is used to talk about:

• the purpose of something:
  « Mi sono iscritto a un corso di italiano per imparare la lingua  »
  (“I joined an Italian course to learn the language”)
• a length of time:
  « Dopo la scuola faccio i compiti per circa un'ora  »
  (“After school I do my homework for about an hour”)
• the receiver of something:
  « C'è posta per te  »
  (“You've got mail”)

The preposition “per” is also used with verbs of movement, like for example “partire,” which means “to leave,” and “passare,” which means “to go through.” Let’s look at an example:

« Quando partite per Firenze?  »
(“When are you leaving for Florence?”)

Italian articulated prepositions

Let’s now move on to articulated prepositions, or compound prepositions. Articulated prepositions are formed any time a noun following the Italian prepositions “di,” “a,” “da,” “in,” “su” and “con” requires a definite article.

Basically, when the preposition you are using is followed by a definite article, it combines with it to make one word.

Articulated prepositions can be used before names of countries, regions, rivers, lakes, and mountains, but not before cities and people’s names.

Articulated prepositions formed with “Di”

Table: Italian articulated prepositions with "di"

Italian	translation
di + il = del	of, about, from, by, than
di + lo = dello	of, about, from, by, than
di + la = della	of, about, from, by, than
di + l’ = dell’	of, about, from, by, than
di + i = dei	of, about, from, by, than
di + gli = degli	of, about, from, by, than
di + le = delle	of, about, from, by, than

Articulated prepositions formed with “A”

Table: Italian articulated prepositions with "a"

Italian	translation
a + il = al	at, to, in, on
a + lo = allo	at, to, in, on
a + la = alla	at, to, in, on
a + l’ = all’	at, to, in, on
a + i = ai	at, to, in, on
a + gli = agli	at, to, in, on
a + le = alle	at, to, in, on

Articulated prepositions formed with “Da”

Table: articulated prepositions formed with "da"

Italian	translation
da + il = dal	from, by, as, since, for
da +lo = dallo	from, by, as, since, for
da + la = dalla	from, by, as, since, for
da + l’ = dall’	from, by, as, since, for
da + i = dai	from, by, as, since, for
da + gli = dagli	from, by, as, since, for
da + le = dalle	from, by, as, since, for

Articulated prepositions formed with “In”

Table: articulated prepositions formed with "in"

Italian	translation
in + il = nel	in, at, by
in + lo = nello	in, at, by
in + la = nella	in, at, by
in + l’ = nell’	in, at, by
in + i = nei	in, at, by
in + gli = negli	in, at, by
in + le = nelle	in, at, by

Articulated prepositions formed with “Su”

Table: Italian articulated prepositions with "su"

Italian	translation
su + il = sul	on, above, over, about, out of
su + lo = sullo	on, above, over, about, out of
su + la = sulla	on, above, over, about, out of
su + l’ = sull’	on, above, over, about, out of
su + i = sui	on, above, over, about, out of
su + gli = sugli	on, above, over, about, out of
su + le = sulle	on, above, over, about, out of

Articulated prepositions formed with “Con”

In Italian, the preposition “con” combines with the definite article when followed by “il” and “i”. Have a look at the following examples.

Italian	translation
con + il = col	with
con + i = coi	with

If the preposition “con” is followed by “lo,” “l’,” “la,” “gli,” or “le,” the two words remain separate. Let me give you some examples to get an idea of how it works.

Italian	translation
con + lo = con lo	with
con + l’= con l’	with
con + la = con la	with
con + gli = con gli	with
con + le = con le	with

Per and tra/fra

In Italian, the prepositions “per,” “tra” and “fra” are invariable, and don’t change form when followed by a definite article.

Conclusion

I hope this guide has given you a solid foundation for using Italian prepositions in writing and face-to-face conversation. There’s a lot to take in here, I know. Try and find a good balance between memorization, study, and real-world practice, and you’ll master the prepositions in no time!

Buono studio!