How to Use Italian Prepositions PER and DA Without Guessing

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Per and da can both translate to “for”, “by” and “from”. So how do you know which one to use? Well, there’s a small set of patterns in Italian that make choosing between per and da insanely intuitive. So, in this guide I’ll show you what those patterns are and give you four simple tricks that will help you get your prepositions right every time.

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TL;DR: How to Use Italian Prepositions PER and DA

PER and DA can both mean “for,” “by,” or “from,” but they follow clear patterns. Once you learn these, you’ll stop guessing and start choosing the right one automatically.

Use DA for duration (still happening now)

• Studio italiano da due anni – I have been studying Italian for two years (lit. I study Italian from two years)
• Vivo qui da cinque mesi – I have been living here for five months (lit. I live here from five months)
• Aspetto da un’ora – I have been waiting for an hour (lit. I wait from one hour)

Think: DurAtion → DA

Use PER for purpose (why you do something)

• Studio italiano per lavoro – I study Italian for work (lit. for work)
• Vado al supermercato per comprare il pane – I go to the supermarket to buy bread (lit. for buying the bread)
• Studio per imparare l’italiano – I study to learn Italian (lit. for learning Italian)

Think: PER = personal reason or goal

Use DA for intended use (what something is for)

• Scarpe da ginnastica – tennis shoes (lit. shoes for doing gym)
• Occhiali da sole – sunglasses (lit. glasses for sun)
• Coltello da cucina – kitchen knife (lit. knife for kitchen)

Think: What does it DO? → DA

Use PER for deadlines

• Devo finire questo per domani – I must finish this by tomorrow (lit. for tomorrow)
• Il progetto è pronto per lunedì – The project is ready by Monday (lit. for Monday)
• Ho bisogno di questi documenti per oggi – I need these documents by today (lit. for today)

Think: exPIRation → PER

The key idea

• DA = duration or function (what something does)
• PER = purpose or deadline

If you focus on these four patterns, choosing between per and da becomes simple and intuitive.

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Watch this lesson on my YouTube Channel

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How to Use Italian Prepositions PER and DA

Talking About Duration

Let’s start with a classic dilemma almost every Italian learner faces when choosing between PER and DA.

It’s your first day at a language school in Rome. Your teacher asks how long you’ve been studying Italian. Do you say: Studio italiano per due anni? Or Studio italiano da due anni?

PER and DA can both mean “for,” and you’ve seen both used with time, so which one is right?

Here’s an easy way to remember it: Think of the word DurAtion. Hear those two letters? D-A. They’re hiding right there: Dur-A-tion → DA. That’s our clue: whenever you talk about how long something has been going on, the DurAtion, the answer is already right there in the word itself: DA. So, the correct answer is:

• Studio italiano da due anni. — I have been studying Italian for two years. — Literally: I study Italian from two years.

Here are some more examples:

• Stiamo insieme da un anno. — We’ve been together for a year. — Literally: We are together from one year.
• Vivo qui da cinque mesi. — I have been living here for five months. — Literally: I live here from five months.
• Lavoro qui da lunedì. — I have been working here since Monday. — Literally: I work here from Monday.
• Aspetto da un’ora. — I have been waiting for an hour. — Literally: I wait from one hour.

Notice how in every example, the action is still happening right now? You’re still together, still living here, still working there, still waiting. The duration hasn’t ended.

So, rule number one: if an action started in the past and still continues now, use DA.

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Talking About Purpose

Next, let’s look at which preposition to use when you’re not talking about duration.

Your teacher asks why you decided to learn Italian. You want to tell her you study Italian for work. When you have a purpose, you’re on a PERsonal mission. PERsonal starts with PER, which means “for”.

So you tell her:

• Studio italiano per lavoro. — I study Italian for work. — Literally: I study Italian for work.
• Parto per Roma. — I leave for Rome. — Literally: I leave for Rome.

PER can also be translated as “in order to”.

• Vado al supermercato per comprare il pane. — I go to the supermarket to buy bread. — Literally: I go to the supermarket in order to buy the bread.
• Studio per imparare l’italiano. — I am studying to learn Italian. — Literally: I study in order to learn Italian.
• Corro per allenarmi. — I run to train. — Literally: I run in order to train myself.

In all these examples, there’s a reason behind the action. You go to the supermarket because you need bread. You study because you want to learn Italian. You run because you want to train. There’s always a PERsonal reason.

So here’s rule number two: when you’re saying why you do something or what your goal is, use PER.

Talking About Intended Use

Which brings us to the next mistake I see all the time, but once you learn this trick, you’ll never make it again. After class you want to tell your friend you need to buy tennis shoes. But how do you call them in Italian? Do you say: Scarpe per ginnastica? or Scarpe da ginnastica?

Every object has a job. Ask yourself: what does it DO? The answer is hiding in the question, DO sounds just like DA. So, you should say:

• Le scarpe da ginnastica. — Tennis shoes. — Literally: the shoes for gymnastics.

I know what you’re thinking: didn’t we just say purpose is PER? So why wouldn’t it be PER here? Here’s the difference:

PER is for your PERsonal purpose, why you do something. Studio italiano per lavoro. That’s your personal reason. But when an object is built for one job, when it was designed to do that thing, that’s different. The object has a job to DO.

Here are some more examples:

• Gli occhiali da sole. — Sunglasses. — Literally: glasses for sun.
• Una macchina da scrivere. — A typewriter. — Literally: a machine for writing.
• Un vestito da sera. — An evening dress. — Literally: a dress for evening.
• Un coltello da cucina. — A kitchen knife. — Literally: a knife for the kitchen.

See the pattern? None of these objects are choosing to do their job. They were built for it. It’s what they DO. And that gives us DA.

So here’s rule number three: when you’re describing what an object was designed to do, its function, use DA.

Talking About Deadlines

Next, you’ll learn a memory trick that makes deadlines impossible to forget.

You’re back in class and the teacher assigns some homework. You want to make sure you understand when it’s due, the deadline. How do you ask that in Italian? Here’s an easy trick to remember it:

A deadline is an exPIRation date. Now listen to that word again: ex-PIR-ation. Hear that sound in the middle? PIR. It sounds just like PER, and that’s our clue. Deadline → exPIRation → PER. So you ask:

• Dobbiamo scrivere questo tema per domani? — Do we have to write this essay by tomorrow? — Literally: Do we have to write this essay for tomorrow?

Let’s see some more examples:

• Il progetto è pronto per lunedì. — The project is ready by Monday. — Literally: the project is ready for Monday.
• La relazione deve essere pronta per venerdì. — The report must be ready by Friday. — Literally: the report must be ready for Friday.
• La macchina deve essere pronta per questa sera. — The car has to be ready by this evening. — Literally: the car must be ready for this evening.
• Ho bisogno di questi documenti per oggi. — I need these documents by today. — Literally: I need these documents for today.

Every one of these sentences has a point where time runs out. That’s an exPIRation date. And exPIRation gives us PER.

So here’s rule number four: when you’re talking about a deadline, always use PER.

Expressions You Just Have to Learn

Finally, let’s look at when PER and DA don’t follow any of the rules we just covered.

Italians use PER and DA in many everyday expressions, and there’s no trick to help you here because they don’t follow clear rules or patterns, they just need to be memorized. The best strategy? Learn them as set phrases. Here are some common ones with PER:

And here are some common ones with DA:

Don’t try to figure out why it’s PER or DA in these. Just learn the whole phrase as one piece, and when you do that, the preposition becomes automatic.

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