{"id":69637,"date":"2017-08-01T00:15:02","date_gmt":"2017-08-01T04:15:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/learn\/italian-prepositions\/"},"modified":"2025-01-31T05:28:13","modified_gmt":"2025-01-31T10:28:13","slug":"italian-prepositions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.fluentu.com\/blog\/italian\/italian-prepositions\/","title":{"rendered":"The Complete Guide to Italian Prepositions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Italian prepositions can seem intimidating.<\/strong><\/p>\n

No matter how carefully you construct your dear Italian sentence, the first thing that a teacher<\/a> or language exchange partner<\/a> will likely correct is a change from in<\/em> to a<\/em>, or from di<\/em> to da<\/em>.<\/p>\n

In this post, we’ll try to untangle the mess of Italian prepositions in a way that’ll make them easier to understand. We go over the most used Italian prepositions with clear definitions, usage rules and, of course, examples, so you’ll understand them better than ever.<\/p>\n

[fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n

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What Are Italian Prepositions?<\/h2>\n

Prepositions are short required words that compliment nouns, pronouns, adjectives and adverbs. As we will see in this post, the main Italian prepositions are: di, da, a, in, su, per, con <\/em>and\u00a0fra\/tra.<\/em><\/p>\n

We use prepositions to indicate relationships<\/strong>, such as at what time something happens, or who owns what. You\u2019ll have them in almost every sentence, like in these examples:<\/p>\n

All<\/strong>\u2019una faccio la pennichella<\/em>. \u2014 I take my nap at one.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00c8 la fisarmonica di<\/strong> Francesca<\/em>. \u2014 It\u2019s Francesca\u2019s accordion.<\/p>\n

Ho ricevuto un regalo da<\/strong> mio fratello<\/em>. \u2014 I received a gift from my brother.<\/p>\n

Sono andato in vacanza in<\/strong> Spagna<\/em>. \u2014 I went on vacation to Spain.<\/p>\n

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Il libro \u00e8 sul<\/strong> tavolo.<\/em> \u2014 The book is on the table.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Ho studiato molto per<\/strong> l’esame.<\/em> \u2014 I studied a lot for the exam.<\/p>\n

Ho cenato con<\/strong> i miei amici.<\/em> \u2014 I had dinner with my friends.<\/p>\n

Il concerto si terr\u00e0 fra<\/strong> due settimane<\/em>. \u2014 The concert will take place in two weeks.<\/p>\n

We also have to be careful, as sometimes English uses prepositions where Italian doesn\u2019t, like in this example:<\/p>\n

Lui preferisce nuotare<\/em>. \u2014 He prefers to<\/strong> swim<\/p>\n

And, finally, keep in mind that there are many other Italian prepositions. The ones included here are the most used ones.<\/p>\n

Common Italian Prepositions<\/h2>\n

Di<\/em> \u2014 Of, by<\/h3>\n

The preposition di<\/em> can mean “of” or “by,” among other things. It combines with the definite articles as follows:<\/p>\n