Le preposizioni italiane: an overview of all Italian prepositions and their main functions. Note that prepositions sometimes merge with articles. You can read about how prepositions and articles merge in our post about articulated prepositions.
Le preposizioni italiane
Via delle preposizioni e dei pronomi von Edilingua
Perfect for beginners (A1-A2), with simple and clear explanations to learn or deepen the use of Italian prepositions and pronouns.
Le preposizioni italiane von Alma Edizioni
A great workbook to practise and consolidate all Italian prepositions. For all levels from A1 to C1.
Le preposizioni italiane
There are 8 prepositions in Italian: di, a, da, in, con, su, per and tra or fra. In this overview of all Italian prepositions you will learn the most important functions. Note that prepositions sometimes merge with articles. You can read about how prepositions and articles merge in our article on articulated prepositions. You can learn more about the individual prepositions in the in-depth articles.
La preposizione DI
| Specification | il corso d’italiano il mal di testa | the Italian course the headache |
| Possess, family | la casa di Fiona la madre di Emma | Fiona’s house Emma’s mother |
| Material | il tavolo di legno | the wooden table |
| Amount, packaging | un chilo di mele un pacco di pasta | a kilo of apples a package of pasta |
| city of origin with essere | sono di Londra | I’m from London |
| Time: part of the day (regularity) | di sera (la sera) | in the evening |
| Time: days of the week (regularity) | di sabato (= il sabato) | saturdays |
| comparison | sono più alto di Mario | I’m taller than Mario |
| as partitive article | compro dei pomodori | I buy (some) tomatoes |
| After some verbs like finire, smettere | finisco di pulire smetto di fumare | I finish cleaning I stop smoking |
| Expression: avere bisogno di | ho bisogno di un caffè | I need a coffee |
Learn more about the preposition di here.
Learn more about the difference between sono di and vengo da here.
La preposizione DA
| Origin: from where? | una cartolina da Roma | a postcard from Rom |
| Origin with venire | vengo dalla Germania | I come from Germany |
| Origin with uscire, scendere | esco dall’ufficio scendo dal treno |
I leave the office I get off the train |
| Andare | essere + person | dal dottore da mia sorella |
to/at the doctor to/at my sister’s |
| Time: How long has it been? | imparo l’italiano da due anni | I have been learning Italian for two years |
| Purpose of an object | gli occhiali da sole | the sun glasses |
| with the meaning: that you must/can | cose da fare qualcosa da mangiare |
things to do something to eat |
| Agent in passive sentences: who did it? | questo libro è stato scritto da Dante | this book was written by Dante |
Combinazione DA - A
| Time span: | ||
| – Dates, hours | dal 2 al 5 marzo dalle 8 alle 10 |
from the 2nd to the 5th March from 8 to 10 o’clock |
| – Months | da gennaio a marzo | from January to March |
| – Days of the week (regularity with article) | lavoro dal lunedì al venerdì | I work from Monday to Friday |
| – Days of the week (once without article) | sono a Roma da venerdì a domenica | I’m in Rom from Friday to Sunday |
| Place: distance from X to Y | da Roma a Milano ci vogliono 6 ore | from Rom to Milan you need 6 hourse |
La preposizione A
| Andare* | essere + | ||
| – Cities | a Roma | to/in Rom |
| – Small isles | a Malta alle Maldive | to/in Malta the/in the Maldives |
| – With some places | al ristorante al mare a casa | to/at the restaurant to/at the sea to/at home |
| Time: months | a (also: in) gennaio | in January |
| Time: holidays | a Natale | at Christmas |
| Time: Wo do we see us? | a dopo a stasera a domani | (see you) later (see you) tonight (see you) tomorrow |
| Time: At what time? | alle sette | at seven |
| Andare + verb | vado a lavorare | I go to work |
| indirect object, dative: to whom? | regalo un libro a mio fratello | I give a book to my brother as a gift |
| together with fino, time/local point of arrival | fino alle sei fino al semaforo | until six until the trafic light |
| Distance from a point X | a 100 metri dal mare | at 100 meters from the sea |
| Distribution | due volte alla settimana | twice a week |
| Flavour, main ingredient | tè al limone gelato alla fragola | lemon tea strawberry ice cream |
| Modality: how? | vado a piedi | I go by foot |
| Typical from a place | alla romana | roman style |
| After some verbs like aiutare, cominciare | ti aiuto a stirare comincio a pulire | I help you iron I begin cleaning |
*Learn more about the prepositions with ANDARE here
La preposizione IN
| Andare* | essere + | ||
| – Countries | in Italia negli Stati Uniti |
to/in Italy to/in the States |
| – Regions | in Toscana | in Tuscany |
| – Big islands | in Sicilia | in Sicily |
| – Streets, squares | in via Roma in piazza Garibaldi |
in Roma street in Garibaldi square |
| – Places ending with -ia | in pizzeria in farmacia |
to/in the pizzeria to/in the drugstore |
| – Places ending with -teca | in biblioteca in discoteca |
to/in the library to/in the disco |
| – Places at home | in cucina | to/in the kitchen |
| – Some places | in montagna in vacanza in piscina |
to/in the mountains on holiday to/in the swimming pool |
| Time: seasons | in autunno | in fall |
| Place: in | nell’armadio | in the wardrobe |
| With means of trasport | in (auch: con la) bicicletta | by/with the bicycle |
*Learn more about the prepositions with ANDARE here
La preposizione SU
| Andare | essere + | ||
| – Mountains (proper name) | sulle Alpi | to/in the alps |
| – seas (proper name) | sull’Adriatico | to/at the Adriatic Sea |
| – lakes (proper name) | sul (also: al) lago di Garda | to/at the Garda Lake |
| Internet | su internet sui social sul sito |
on the Internet on social media on the website |
| on, with contact | sul tavolo | on the table |
| Topic | un libro su Venezia | a book about Venice |
La preposizione CON
| Company: with whom? | con la mia famiglia | with my family |
| Means: with what? | mangio la pasta con la forchetta | I eat pasta with the fork |
La preposizione PER
| Purpose: for what reason? | per rilassarmi | to relax |
| Target person: for whom? | un regalo per te | a present for you |
| Destination of means of transport | il treno per Milano | the train to Milan |
| Destination after partire | parto per Roma parto per le vacanze |
I leave for Rome I leave for vacation |
| Place: within a place, unspecific direction | un giro per la città | a tour around the city |
| Time: how long? | ho lavorato qui per un anno | I worked here for a year |
La preposizione TRA / FRA
Fra and tra are intercheangeable.
| Location between two or more things | la sedia è tra l’armadio e il tavolo | the chair is between the wardrobe and the table |
| Place: Distance from where you are | tra due chilometri c’è un parco | in two kilometers there is a park |
| Time: Distance in time (future) | tra due giorni parto per le vacanze | in two days I leave for vacation |
Test sulle preposizioni!
Hints:
1. if tra/fra occurs, please write “tra” (only one possibility is correct in the test).
2. if both “di” and “il” are possible, please write “di” (“il” is not a preposition after all).
