Italian preposition "su" (on, over,...)
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Sign up for freeThe preposition su (on) has a lot of uses in Italian.
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Marina Maria Grazia O. 
Mattia Z.
Valeria S.
Luca D.
Roberta D. 
Azzurra C.
Giusy F.
Silvia B.
Giorgia U.
Domenico R.
Location
When su indicates a location, it translates as on or over.
| Italian | English |
|---|---|
| La biro è sul libro | The pen is on the book |
| C'è un ponte sul fiume | There's a bridge over the river |
Topic of a speech or writing
When su indicates the topic of a speech or writing, it translates as on or about.
| Italian | English |
|---|---|
| Tenere una conferenza su come scrivere un articolo | To give a lecture on how to write an article |
| Si è scritto molto su questo argomento | A lot has been written about this topic |
Approximation (age, price, measures)
When su indicates an approximation, it translates as about.
| Italian | English |
|---|---|
| Quella donna sembra avere sui quarant'anni | That woman seems to be about forty years old |
| Ha una macchina che costa sui cinquantamila euro | He has a car that cost about 50'000 euros |
| Il pacco pesa sui due chili | The package weights about two kilos |
Be careful! In this case, Italian language needs the article after the preposition (see Italian articulated prepositions)
Sui trent'anni → About thirty years old
Distributive (groups, grades)
When su has a distributive function it is translated as in or out of.
| Italian | English |
|---|---|
| Un ragazzo su tre trova lavoro | One in three guys find a job |
| Giorgia ha ottenuto il punteggio di quattro su cinque | Giorgia got the score of four out of five |
Typical expressions
In the following table you can find a list of typical Italian expressions that are introduced by the preposition "su".
| Italian | Engllish |
|---|---|
| dire/parlare sul serio | to be serious / to talk seriously |
| essere su di giri | to be hyper / on a high |
| su larga scala | large-scale / widespread |
| piangere sul latte versato | to cry over split milk |
| essere sull'orlo di un precipizio | to stand on the edge of a cliff |
| essere sul punto di | to be about to |
| pensarci su | to think about it |
| su richiesta | on request |