7 Must-Know Italian Prepositions That Will Help You Sound Like A Native In Your Conversations

powder blue vespa parked in the street

Prepositions are an essential part of learning Italian, or any language for that matter. 

Sometimes it's the little things in language that make the biggest difference.

And prepositions are no exception.

These little grammatical words like “on”, “for” and “to” help us to relate objects in time and space.

Pretty useful right? And crucial for fluency in any language.

That's why, in this post, you'll learn:

The good news is, prepositions are one of the easier aspects of Italian grammar (believe it or not!)

If you want to master Italian prepositions quickly and learn to use them correctly in conversation my top recommendation is Grammar Hero, my story-based programme that helps you master Italian grammar naturally through reading.

Anyway, back to Italian prepositions. So let's dive in and figure out how to use them.

What Are Prepositions?

manarola Italy

Prepositions are the words that explain how the rest of the words in a sentence are connected or related. They give context for how different concepts are linked.

If this sounds to broad or confusing, let's look at which words in English are prepositions.

You probably learned what prepositions are back in primary school, but most of use forget about them pretty quickly!

After all, when you’re speaking your native language, you normally don't pay  attention to the actual mechanics of your words and just say what sounds right.

So here’s a little refresher on some common English prepositions:

As you can see, prepositions are used to describe the time, place, and origin of things in relation to one another.

Prepositions have the same function in Italian as they do in English. Unfortunately, however, you can't directly translate these words. 

Many of the Italian prepositions have a general English counterpart, which is helpful to know, but they can't always be used in the exact same ways.

What will help you get used to Italian prepositions (apart from reading this post of course!) is making sure you read and listen to plenty of Italian.

That way, you'll see the prepositions in context and become familiar with them, without pouring over textbook exercises!

7 Must-Know Italian Prepositions

Let’s take a look at some of the most commonly used Italian prepositions. Maybe you know some of them already? 

  1. a
  2. con
  3. da
  4. di
  5. in
  6. per
  7. su

Chances are you've seen all of these while reading in Italian, even if you're not 100% confident about how they work just yet.

I'll take you through each of these words one-by-one so you can get a full understanding of what they mean and when to use them, with plenty of examples in context. Let’s start from the top.

#1 A

colosseum in Rome

The preposition a has a lot of uses for a one-letter word!

Generally, you can translate a into English as “at” or “to.” It can indicate a direction when paired with a city. For example:

It can indicate the recipient or destination of something like a letter or message:

It can also be used as “to” when you say “you’re going to do this”. In this usage, the a is placed before the infinitive of the verb:

It can also be used in instances where no preposition is needed in English, to connect an adjective (describing word) to a noun (a thing or person) or an adverb (words like “gently”) to a verb (words like “play” or “eat”). For example:

la coperta a strisce = the striped blanket

#2 Con

2 people eating pasta

Next up… this one's actually pretty easy!

The Italian preposition con loosely translates to “with.” 

Let’s look at some examples: 

#3 Da


Da is another one with several different meanings or translations into English. It can mean “from,” “since,” “by,” or a combination. of those words.

You can use da to indicate your origin. For example:

You can use it to indicate the amount of time since something has happened. For example:

You can use it to indicate by whom or what something was done. For example:

You can use it to indicate the value or worth of something. In this case, there would be no English translation. For example:

Additionally, if you say you are going da and then the name of a person, this is a casual way of saying you’re going to their home.

#4 Di

man looking at ceiling in Florence

Up next is di, which generally translates to “of” or “from.”

If you want to say where you come from, you’d use di.

You can use di to indicate the material of which something is made. For example:

It can also be used to indicate the subject you're speaking about. For example:

#5 In

person making pasta

In is one of the easiest Italian prepositions for English speakers to learn and understand because it's a cognate.

(Cognates are words that are the same or similar in 2 different languages)

In the case of the Italian preposition in, you can use it in almost the exact same ways as the English word “in.”

Here are a few examples:

#6 Per

man visiting Venice

This Italian preposition generally translates to English as “for.”

As with in, this is more of a direct translation than many of the others. Here are a couple of examples:

# 7 Su

Dante's divine comedy on a book shelf

Last but not least, let’s take a look at the Italian preposition su.

Su can be translated as “on,” “about,” or “above.”

How To Combine Italian Prepositions

aerial view of Venice

You may have noticed that in the sentence “Il libro è sullo scaffale,” the word su has changed form to sullo.

Sneaky, eh?!

Italian prepositions often change form based on the word that follows them.

When followed by a definite article (“the” in English), a preposition combines with the article and together they transform into a new word that signifies the two words together.

In most cases, these combinations are intuitive. They almost seem like phonetic spellings of the way you would say the two words together really fast.

But if you’re not expecting them, they might be confusing.

Here are the new words that can be formed by combining the prepositions above with definite articles:

Italian Preposition Combinations With A

Italian Preposition Combinations With Da

Italian Preposition Combinations With Di

Italian Preposition Combinations With Su

And now for the good news – the articles con, per, and in don't change form based on the word that follows them.

So you don't need to memorise any alternate versions for them. Always a bonus in language learning right? 

Italian Prepositions: Your Next Steps To Master Them

spanish steps in rome

Overall, Italian prepositions aren't too hard.

I mean, they're a little less intimidating to get your head round than say, the imperfetto or the subjunctive, right? 

Plus, if you dedicate some time every day to listening to and reading Italian, like I did in my Italian learning project, they’ll soon begin to come naturally.

If you focus getting the Italian prepositions right, you'll be able to communicate and express yourself better in Italian.

And sound more like a native while you do it!

Now who doesn't want that? 

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Are you clearer on when and how to use the Italian prepositions now? And which other aspects of Italian grammar stress you out? Let me know in the comments. 


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