Adjectives with Prepositions

Aggettivi seguiti da preposizioni

Italian adjectives with prepositions
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When describing someone as capable of doing or determined to do something, a preposition is required between the adjective and verb.

In Italian, the choice of preposition depends on the adjective that precedes it, not the verb or noun that follows.

Adjectives + a

abituato a   used to doing
adatto a   useful for
addetto a   responsible for
affezionato a   fond of
attento a   careful to do
autorizzato to   authorized to
bravo a   good at
contrario a   against
costretto a   obliged to
deciso a   determined to
dedicato a   dedicated to
destinato a   destined to
determinato a   determined to
disponibile a   available to
disposto a   willing to
efficace a   effective at
idoneo a   suitable for
inadatto a   incapable of
incline a   inclined to
indifferente a   indifferent to
intento a   intent on
interessato a   interested in
lento a   slow at
lungo a   quick at
motivato a   motivated to
necessario a   necessary to
occupato a   busy doing
portato a   inclined to
preparato a   prepared to/for
pronto a   ready to
prossimo a   close to
ritardo a   late for
sensibile a   sensitive to
ultimo a   last to
unico a   alone in, the only one to

 Note that in English, the preposition usually depends on what follows it. Generally speaking, it’s

  • "of" or "at" when it’s followed by the gerund (doing)
  • "to" when it’s followed by the infinitive (do)

However, when followed by a noun, the preposition is determined by the English adjective.

Adjectives + da

annoiato da   bored by/with
autorizzato da   authorized by
causato da   caused by
deluso da   disappointed by/with
difficile da   difficult to
dipendente da   dependent on
distante da   distant from
diverso da   different from
escluso da   excluded from
facile da   easy to
indipendente da   independent from/of
libero da   free to/of
lontano da   far from
motivato da   motivated by
preparato da   prepared by
proveniente da   (coming) from
sorpreso da   surprised at/by

 Italian adjectives that can be used with two different prepositions are included in both lists.

Adjectives + di

annoiato di   bored by/with
ansioso di   anxious to
appassionato di   fond of
capace di   capable of
certo di   sure to
contento di   happy to/about
curioso di   curious to
deluso di   disappointed by/with
desideroso di   eager to
entusiasta di   excited about
felice di   happy to/about
fiero di   proud to/of
fortunato di   lucky to
geloso di   jealous of
grato di   grateful to
incapace di   incapable of
innamorato di   in love with
invidioso di   envious of
libero di   free to/of
lieto di   pleased to to
orgoglioso di   proud of/to
pieno di   full of
povero di   poor in
responsabile di   responsible for
ricco di   rich in
riconoscente di   grateful to
scontento di   unhappy about/with
sicuro di   sure of/about
soddisfatto di   satisfied with/by
spaventato di   frightened of/by
spiacente di   sorry to
stanco di   tired of
stufo di   sick and tired of
triste di   sad about

Adjectives + in

assorto in   intent on
bravo in   good at
scarso in   bad at

Adjectives + per

ansioso per   nervous about
arrabbiato per   angry about
dispiaciuto per   sorry about/for
famoso per   famous for
negato per   hopeless at
pazzo per   crazy about
preoccupato per   worried about
ritardo per   late for

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Aggettivi seguiti da preposizioni

Laura K Lawless
Laura K Lawless
Virtual Italian Teacher at Lawless Languages | Website | + posts

Ciao! I’m Laura K Lawless, creator, writer, editor, and CLO (Chief Lawless Officer) of this free online Italian learning site. Lawless Italian is an official Lawless Languages site.