Italian Prepositions
Prepositions are short words used to complement an adjective, adverb, noun, or pronoun. The basic Italian prepositions are di, a, da, in, con, su, per, tra/fra. Di, a, da, in, su, and per can be simple, when they are used alone, without article; or articulated, when they are tense with the article, forming a whole word. The other prepositions don't have a tense form, even when matched with the article. In the past the preposition "con" had tense forms, which are no more in use except for the col form.
Italian Prepositions in and a : forms and examples
The Italian preposition in usually means in. It is used to indicate:
- direction (to) when linked to countries, regions, continents, big islands, bank, mountain, library or church
- periods of the year, like seasons, months, years (in, during)
- means of transporting
The Italian preposition a means at. It is used to indicate:
- direction (to) when linked to cities or little islands
- destination (to)
- time (at)
- to give a substantive an adverbial or adjectival meaning
- before the infinitive
In front of the definitive articles, in and a take the following forms:
IN:
in + lo = nello
in + l' = nell'
in + lin = nella
in + i = nei
in + gli =negli
in + le = nelle
A:
a + lo = allo
a + l' = all'
a + la = alla
a + i = ai
a + gli =agli
a + le = alle
The Italian prepositions di and da : forms and examples
The preposition di usually means of. It is also used to indicate:
- direction (from) when following essere
- time with words indicating parts of the day or days of the week
- materials
- arguments (about) with verbs as parlare (to talk), trattare (to treat), discutere (to discuss)
- The preposition da means from, since, or by. It is also used to indicate:
- direction (to) when linked to people or worker
- the aim of an object:
In front of definitive articles, di and da take the following forms:
DI:
di + lo = dello
di + l' = dell'
di + la = della
di + i = dei
di + gli = degli
di + le = delle
DA:
da + lo = dallo
da + l' = dall'
da + la = dalla
da + i = dai
da + gli =dagli
da + le = dalle
The prepositions con, per and tra/fra : forms and examples
The preposition con means with.
The preposition per means for
It can also indicate direction linked to the verb partire (to leave) or with means of transportation.
The preposition tra/fra means between (place) or within/in (time).
There are no differences between tra and fra; it is just a stylistic choice depending on the speaker.
The Italian preposition su
The preposition su means on or about
As we said before, the preposition di can also mean about. Take care about the context:
In front of definitive articles, su takes the following forms:
su + lo = sullo
su + l' = sull'
su + la = sulla
su + i = sui
su + gli = sugli
su + le = sulle
Italian preposition summary
- The main Italian prepositions are di, a, da, in, con, su, per, and tra/fra
- The prepositions di, a, da, in, su can be simple (not tense) or articulated (tense with the corresponding article). Per, tra/fra have just the simple form, while con can only become col.
- Tra and fra have exactly the same meaning; it is just a stylistic choice for the speaker/writer.
- Usually Italian articles can be translated in English as follows:
- Italian pronouns are a must-know. Get started here.
- How scary is Italian verb conjugation? Not too scary after this lesson!
- Know your action words with this lesson on Italian verbs.
Maria Di Lorenzi
Rocket Italian
