Colombia, hacia la sociedad del conocimiento: pensando con el deseo

da giugno del 1958 = since June 1958

dall'altroieri = since the day before yesterday da mercoledì scorso = since last wednesday da quel giorno = since that day

 the form from ..., when followed by to ... (see below for the second part of this expression): dal 1975 al 1980 = from 1975 to 1980

da settembre a ottobre = from September to October dalle cinque alle nove = from five (o'clock) to nine da adesso in poi = from now on

The simple preposition a ... indicates the end of a time length.

Remember that when a is followed by a vowel (especially another a), it changes to ad. This preposition translates English to, when introduced by from (same case as above): da lunedì a domenica = from monday to sunday

dalle cinque alle sette = from five (o'clock) to seven

da maggio ad agosto = from May to August (notice ad instead of a, due to agosto)

But, as explained in paragraph 7.5, the same preposition a is also used for stating an hour, as English at: alle sette e mezza = at half past seven

alle nove meno dieci = at ten to nine all'una e venti = at twenty past one a mezzanotte = at midnight

When a time length has no definite origin, and only the finishing time is stated, fino a ... is used to express the latter, translating several English forms:

 the form until (or till): fino a sabato = until saturday fino a domani = until tomorrow fino alle cinque = until five o'clock

 the form up to ... (also generally used with numbers, measures, etc.): fino al 1950 = up to 1950

fino ad ora = up to now (notice ad instead of a, because of ora) fino al quindici = up to number fifteen

fino a sei metri = up to six metres fino a qui = up to here

 the form through ...:

catalogo dei prezzi fino al 31 giugno = price catalogue through June 31st questa tessera è valida fino al 2001 = this card is valid through 2001

Sometimes, when the deadline is not a given day but a month, a year, etc. (as in the second sample sentence), the adjective tutto = all is added to the form (fino a tutto ...), to indicate that the month or year mentioned is included within the period. Therefore, the above-mentioned sentence would often be:

questa tessera è valida fino a tutto il 2001

The English preposition for ..., expressing duration, is translated by preposition per ...: per cinque settimane = for five weeks

ho lavorato lì per cinque giorni = I have worked there for five days

l'ingresso è gratis per tutto il 1995 = the entrance is free for the whole (year) 1995

In expressing time length, English always uses for + the duration of the action, but Italian also uses another form: da + the duration of the action.

This is the only tricky bit in translating these forms into Italian, so be sure to focus it well. lavoro da due anni = I have been working for two years

non vedo Paolo da cinque mesi = I haven't seen Paul for five months

la radio non funziona da due settimane = the radio has not been working for two weeks piove da due giorni = it has been raining for two days

In Italian, this form is rather different from the previous one, although it might seem similar in English: ho lavorato per cinque settimane = I have worked for five weeks

this sentence mainly gives stress to the time length of the action, and little importance is given to when the action started;

lavoro da cinque settimane = I have been working for five weeks

the English form gives stress to the fact that the action has taken place habitually for the given time (i.e. "I have worked every day for a time length of five weeks"), while the Italian form carries a meaning of "I have been working every day starting from five weeks ago": this is why preposition da is used, as if to say "from a starting moment, five weeks ago".

So, as a practical rule, preposition per gives a sense of duration in time as any similar English form, while da always has a meaning of "time elapsed from that moment", either referring to the future (translating English from, as of, etc. as explained in an earlier part of this paragraph), or in the past, as in this case, though in English it has to be turned into a different form.

Also notice that when preposition da is used for English since, the Italian tense always refers to the latest moment of the action, as if looking at the action back in time, while the English tense refers to the starting moment of the action, or anyway to an earlier time than its end:

vedo (present tense) is referred to "now", while have seen (present perfect tense) refers to "1975" dormo da due ore = I have been sleeping for two hours

dormo (present tense) is referred to "now", while have been refers to "two hours ago"

Also when the action happens in the past, there is a difference between the Italian tense and the English one:

non vedevo Paolo dal 1975 = I had not seen Paul since 1975

vedevo (imperfect tense) is referred to the time of the sentence, while had seen (present perfect tense) refers to an earlier time ("1975")

dormivo da due ore = I had been sleeping for two hours

dormivo is referred to the time of the sentence, while had been refers to an earlier time ("two hours before")

ADVERBS prima, dopo, durante

The English adverb before is translated prima. In Italian it is always followed by preposition di when introducing a noun or a date; instead, it is followed by conjunction che (that) when introducing a subordinate clause, requiring subjunctive tenses.

This page only focuses the first case (prima di ...): prima di giugno = before June

prima del 1970 = before 1970 prima di domani = before tomorrow

lunedì viene prima di martedì = monday comes before tuesday

The same adverb may also translate before in sequences (almost suggesting a progression in time): il sette viene prima dell'otto = number seven comes before number eight

la M viene prima della N = (letter) M comes before (letter) N

The adverb after is translated dopo. In Italian it is usually not followed by any preposition (although di is needed in a very limited number of situations, which will be explained in a future paragraph).

dopo giugno = after June dopo il 1970 = after 1970