A2 · Prepositions
Time expressions: fa, tra, per, entro
fa comes last, tra counts forward, in measures how long.
At a glance
- Remember
- fa back, tra forward, in for how long.
- Form
- due anni fatwo years ago
- Signal words
- fa
- tra
- fra
- per
- entro
- fino a
- Trap
- Wrong:Parto in tre giorni, il biglietto ce l’ho già.Right:Parto tra tre giorni, il biglietto ce l’ho già.
Your turn
6 exercises on this topic. Your answers are checked in the browser; none of them leaves your device.
The form
| two years ago | due anni fa |
| two years earlier | due anni prima |
| in three days (from now) | tra tre giorni / fra tre giorni |
| within three days | in tre giorni |
| for three hours | per tre ore |
| for three hours (and still) | da tre ore |
| by Friday at the latest | entro venerdì |
| until six o'clock | fino alle sei |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
fa comes after the period of time.
Ci siamo conosciuti dieci anni fa.We met ten years ago.
tra or fra counts from now into the future.
Il treno parte tra cinque minuti.The train leaves in five minutes.
in says how long something takes.
Ho letto il libro in due giorni.I read the book in two days.
entro sets a deadline.
Mandami il documento entro lunedì.Send me the document by Monday.
Example sentences
Sono arrivato a Bologna tre mesi fa.I came to Bologna three months ago.
Fra un’ora sono da te.I will be at your place in an hour.
Abbiamo parlato per due ore.We talked for two hours.
Il pagamento va fatto entro la fine del mese.Payment must be made by the end of the month.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
English in three days has two meanings, and the obvious translation picks the wrong one. Parto in tre giorni sounds as if the departure itself took three days. Whoever means three days from today says tra tre giorni. Put the other way round: if you could say within in English, in is right; if you mean from now, it is tra.
The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
Two years ago is due anni fa, and the order is the English one: fa stands <b>after</b> the period, like ago, and always counts back from now. If the reference point is itself in the past, it is prima: due anni prima, two years before, two years earlier.
In three days, counted from today, is tra tre giorni or, meaning exactly the same, fra tre giorni. In tre giorni says something else: how long something takes — ho finito il lavoro in tre giorni, I finished the job in three days. English uses in for both, and that is the trap on this page.
A completed duration, for three hours, takes per or no preposition at all: ho aspettato (per) tre ore. If it is still going on, Italian uses da with the presente where English needs have been: aspetto da tre ore, I have been waiting for three hours.
A deadline, by or no later than, is entro: entro venerdì. Plain until is fino a: lavoro fino alle sei.
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