If you’re getting to know some Italians, or just getting around Italy, you’ll probably use this word at some point. It’s the word “from”. You might use it to ask “where you are you from?” for example, or “is the train station far from here?” But our students say that this word can sometimes be hard to translate. Good news! You can almost always translate “from” with one word: da.
There's just one really common situation where you can't use da , but it’s easy to learn.
So in this lesson, you'll learn how to say "from" in Italian, along with some useful and natural expressions. And you can see how to avoid one common mistake.
How to say from in Italian
To say where you’re leaving from
| Parto da Napoli domani. | I’m leaving from Naples tomorrow. | Par-toh dah nah-poh-lee doh-mah-nee |
| Da dove parte il treno? | Where does the train leave from? (lit. from where does the train leave) | Dah doh-veh par-teh eel treh-noh? |
| Abbiamo viaggiato da Roma a Venezia. | We traveled from Rome to Venice. | Ab-bee-ah-moh vee-ah-jyah-toh dah roh-mah ah veh-neh-tsya. |
| È arrivato da Milano. | He arrived from Milan. | Eh ah-ree-va-toh dah mee-lah-noh |
| L’aereo è arrivato da Londra. | The plane arrived from London. | Llah-eh-reh-oh eh ah-ree-va-toh dah lon-drah. |
Showing distance
You can also use da to show distance between two places.
| È lontano da qui. | It’s far from here | Eh lon-tah-noh dah kwee. |
| L'aeroporto è a 40 chilometri da Milano. | The airport is 40 kilometers from Milan. | Lah-eh-roh-por-toh eh ah quar-ahn-tah kee-loh-me-tree dah mee-lah-noh. |
| Il ristorante è a dieci metri da qui. | The restaurant is 10 meters away from here. | Eel ree-sto-rahn-teh eh ah dyeh-chee meh-tree dah kwee. |
| Napoli è a circa due ore da Roma. | Naples is around two hours from Rome. | Nah-poh-lee eh ah cheer-kah doo-eh oh-reh dah Roh-mah. |
| Quanto dista da qui? | How far away is it from here? | Kwan-toh dees-tah dah kwee? |
| Quanto ci vuole da qui? | How long does it take from here? | Kwahn-toh chee vwoh-leh dah kwee? |
For example: Il ristorante è lontano da qui - is the restaurant far from here?
Quanto ci vuole per arrivare all'aeroporto da qui? - how long does it take to get to the airport from here?
Talking about how long something takes
Da tells us when an activity starts.
| La colazione è dalle 7. | Breakfast is from 7. | Lah koh-lah-tsyoh-neh eh dah-leh seh-tee. |
| Dal primo aprile | From April 1st. | Dahl pree-moh ah-pree-leh. |
| Vado a Roma da lunedì a venerdì | I’m going to Rome from Monday to Friday. | Vah-doh ah Roh-mah dah loo-neh-dee ah veh-nehr-dee |
How to say from… to… in Italian
As we can see in the examples above, if I use da with a , I can say not only when an activity starts, but also when it ends. It’s like saying “from…to” in English.
Lavoro dalle 9 alle 17 – I work from 9 til 5
Psst! Here’s how to tell the time in Italian .
What are some Italian expressions with da ?
Here are some useful expressions which Italians use all the time. You can use them in conversation and sound completely natural.
| Frase | Traduzione | Pronuncia |
| Da capo | From the start (lit. from the top) | Dah kah-poh |
| Da ora in poi | From now on | Dah oh-rah een poy |
| Da oggi in poi | From today onwards | Dah oh-jee een poy |
| Dall’inizio alla fine | From beginning to end | Dahl leen-ee-tsyoh ah-lah fee-neh |
| Dal mio punto di vista | From my point of view | Dahl mee-oh poon-toh dee vee-stah |
| È diverso/a da… | It’s different from… | Eh dee-ver-soh/ah dah |
| Da vicino | From up close | Dah vee-chee-noh |
| Da casa | From home | Dah kah-zah |
For example:
Oggi, ho lavorato da casa - Today, I worked from home.
Da oggi in poi il museo è chiuso - From today onwards, the museum is closed.
Napoli è diversa da Milano - Naples is different from Milan.
What do da/dal/dall'/dalla mean?
In English, you might say “from the”, for example “from the supermarket”, or “from the ticket office”.
In Italian, you do the same. The only difference is, in Italian you combine “from” and “the” into a single word. For example:
Dal supermercato – from the supermarket
Dalla biglietteria – from the ticket office
We say dal for masculine words and dalla for feminine words. Here’s how it works:
da + il supermercato = dal supermercato
from + the supermarket = from the supermarket (m)
da + la biglietteria = dalla biglietteria
from + the ticket office = from the ticket office (f)
You might know there are a few other ways to say “the” in Italian , too! Here’s how they all combine with da, to say “from the”:
| Da + il | Dal supermercato - From the supermarket |
| Da + la | Dalla biglietteria - From the ticket office |
| Da + l’ | Dall’ ufficio - From the office |
| Da + i | Dai parchi - From the parks |
| Da + le | Dalle case - From the houses |
| Da + lo | Dallo zio - From the uncle |
| Da + gli | Dagli amici - From the friends |
To learn more about how these funny word combos work, check out this post – grammar nerds call them “articulated prepositions” but don’t worry, they’re not as scary as they first seem!
How to say where you're from in Italian (and a common mistake to avoid!)
It’s true that da usually means “from”. But when saying where you are from in Italy, it’s best not to use da. Although Italians will understand you, it’s more of a literal translation from English.
Instead, the best way to say where you are from is to say: I’m + your nationality.
For example: Sono inglese - I’m English
Sono americano - I’m American
And not vengo dagli Stati Uniti / dall’Inghilterra as this could be mistaken for “I’ve (just) come in from the USA / England”.
What’s the difference between da and di ?
We know that da is almost always the word for “from” in Italian. But there is one situation where we have to use di to say “from” .
So what’s the difference?
Da shows movement away from somewhere.
For example:
Parto da Napoli domani - I’m leaving from Naples tomorrow
È arrivato da Milano - He arrived from Milan.
L’aereo è arrivato da Londra - The plane arrived (in) from London.
Di shows the origin of something or someone.
For example:
Di dove sei? - Where are you from?
Sono di Roma - I’m from Rome. Questi limoni sono di Sorrento - These lemons are from Sorrento.
Good to know!
You should use di to talk about the town or city you’re from, not the country. Remember how to talk about the country? Italians normally use the nationality instead:
Sono di Chicago – I’m from Chicago
Sono americano – I’m American / I’m from America
How to say From in Italian: Review
So we know that da is Italian for “from” in almost all cases.
Let’s see some of those key phrases with “from” again.
L'aeroporto è a 40 chilometri da Milano. – The airport is 40 kilometers from Milan.
È lontano da qui. – It’s far from here.
Quanto dista da qui? – How far is it from here?
Lavoro dalle 9 fino alle 17. – I work from 9 to 5.
Dal primo aprile – From April 1st.
Da capo – From the start.
Da oggi in poi – From today onwards.
È diverso/a da… – It’s different from…
We’ve also seen the exceptions to this, when we have to use di instead, to talk about origin:
Di dove sei? – Where are you from?
Sono di Roma – I’m from Rome.
But remember, when you want to say where you’re from in Italian, instead of saying “I’m from…” it sounds more natural to give your nationality:
Sono inglese – I’m English / from England.
Sono americano – I’m American / from America.
K: Ciao a tutti e benvenuti! Hi everyone and welcome to “Learn Italian with Joy of Languages”.
M: Today we’re going to talk about the word “from” in Italian.
K: Usually, we’d translate this with da. Which seems easy enough
M: But sometimes, we don’t use it in exactly the same way as English.
K: Before we show you how to avoid making a common mistake, we have a little favour to ask. If you’re listening to this on your podcast app, could you hit the subscribe or follow button? This way you’ll get notified when we release a new episode and you’ll help our podcast grow so we can keep making free lessons like this. Grazie!
M: Ok, so Katie and I live in Milan, but we often go back to my home city, Napoli (“Naples”) to visit my family.
K: You might already know that Milan is in Northern Italy and Naples is in the South. The two cities are technically in the same country, but they’re very different! Sometimes I forget just how different they are.
M: When we’re in Naples, we work from home a lot and my mamma is always telling us to get outside and do things Because there is a lot to do around Naples!
K: One really interesting place to visit near Naples is Vesuvius. In this conversation, you’ll hear how we say and use da . Try and listen to all the examples and you’ll start to see that it usually means “from” in English.
K: Andiamo al Vesuvio?
M: Ma è lontano da qui!
K: C’è l’autobus.
M: Sì, ma Napoli è diversa da Milano
K: Perché?
M: A Napoli l’autobus è spesso in ritardo
K: Sì, ma poi arriva
M: Si vede che sei inglese!
K: I asked Matteo
M: Andiamo al Vesuvio? – Shall we go to Vesuvius
Andiamo - we go
Al - to
Vesuvio - Vesuvius , (which is a famous volcano near Naples. It’s worth a visit because the view from the top is gorgeous! )
K: There’s not a specific question word like “shall” in Italian. It’s the intonation in your voice that makes it clear that it’s a question. We go to Vesuvius?
M: Andiamo al Vesuvio? (x2)
K: So in reply to my question, Matteo said:
M: È lontano da qui. K: It is far from here
È - it is
Lontano - far
Da - from
Qui - here
K: Here, we use “from”, as in English, to talk about something being far away from you.
M: È lontano da qui (x2)
-
K: To say “from”, we usually say da. Far from = Lontano DA.
So how would you say “I’m leaving from Milan”? “I’m leaving” is parto.
[...]
M: Parto da Milano (x2)
K: Or an easy one, “from home”. Home is casa.
[...]
M: Da casa (x2)
K: Next, I said:
M: C’è l’autobus.
C’è - there is
L’autobus - the bus
K: Notice that the pronunciation of bus isn’t like in English. The u is pronounced “oo”, not “uh”. Autobus.
K: Then Matteo reminded me
M: Sì, ma Napoli è diversa da Milano – Yes, but Naples is different from Milan
Sì - yes Ma - but
Napoli - Naples
È - is
Diversa - different
Da - from
Milano - Milan
K: Just like in English, we use the word “from” in Italian when we say that one thing is different from another. Naples is una città, a city. , which is feminine, so that’s why we say diversa with A at the end.
M: Napoli è diversa da Milano. (x2)
K: I asked Matteo
M: Perché? - Why?
K: And he explained
M: A Napoli l’autobus è spesso in ritardo – In Naples the bus is often late
A - In (we always use “a” with cities like Naples)
Napoli - Naples
L’autobus - the bus
È - is
Spesso - often
In ritardo - late
K: Not minding the idea of waiting in the Naples sunshine, I replied
M: Ma poi arriva – but then it arrives
Ma - But
Poi - then
Arriva - it arrives
K: Of course, Matteo rightly pointed out:
M: Si vede che sei inglese! – You can tell that you’re English!
Si – one
vede - sees
Che - that
Sei - you are
Inglese - English
K: Si vede, literally “one sees”, means that people in general can see or tell. We use si a lot when we’re not talking about one person, but rather people in general.
K: Matteo is emphasizing it’s clear I’m not from Italy because I haven’t realized that sometimes the buses in Naples just never arrive.
M: Yes, the public transport in Naples is an interesting experience. You never know when and if the trains and buses will arrive!
K: Notice how Matteo said sei inglese (x2), meaning “you’re English”? And this brings us to our common mistake!
How do you say which country you’re from in Italian?
[...]
M: The most natural way is to give the nationality. A lot of people translate too directly, and say vengo da (x2) , which literally means “I come from”. But this doesn’t sound natural. In Italian we say sono (I am) plus your nationality.
K: So if you want to say “I am from America”, you would literally say “I am American”:
M: Sono americano (x2) or for a female sono americana (x2).
K: So to recap, to say “from” in Italian, we usually say da (x2). So what’s the phrase I would use with “da” to say “far from”?
[...]
M: lontano da (x2)
K: It’s far from here?
[...]
M: È lontano da qui (x 2)
K: How about different from?
[...]
M: Diversa da (x2). Napoli è diversa da Milano.
K: But there’s one important exception: how do you say where you’re from in Italian? Interestingly you don’t use the word “from”. Rather you give your nationality. So “I am American” would be:
M: Sono americano for a male, and sono americanA for a female.
K: Let’s review these useful ways to say “from” in Italian by listening to the whole conversation again.
K: Andiamo al Vesuvio?
M: Ma è lontano da qui!
K: C’è l’autobus
M: Sì, ma Napoli è diversa da Milano
K: Perché?
M: A Napoli l’autobus è spesso in ritardo
K: Sì, ma poi arriva
M: Si vede che sei inglese!
K: Of course there are quite a few more common phrases with “from” in Italian, so if you go to our blogpost, you’ll find a nice, easy-to-learn list.
M: For example, you can learn useful phrases with “da” to ask for directions or to make small talk. K: To see everything written down, and get bonus materials, like vocabulary cards and a quiz, click the link in the description. Or you can go to italian.joyoflanguages.com/podcast and search for [episode 154].
M - See you next time.
K - Or as we say in Italian.
Alla prossima!
Time to check your understanding and remember everything you just learned! Below you’ll find a mini-quiz and some vocabulary cards to help it all go in.
Quiz
How much did you learn? Find out in the quiz!
Click here to take the quiz for this episode: Learn to Say "From" in Italian
Vocabulary
Parto da = I’m leaving from
Quanto ci vuole da qui? = How long does it take from here?
Lontano da = Far from
X chilometri da = X kilometers from
Diverso/a da = Different from
Da capo = From the start
Dal mio punto di vista = From my point of view
Da casa = From home
Da oggi in poi = From today onwards
Di dove sei? = Where are you from?
Flashcards: Learn to Say "From" in Italian
Not sure how it works? Click here to watch the tutorial
