How do you use davanti in Italian?
Davanti is both an adverb and a preposition that can be translated into English as “in front of”, “opposite from”.
| Origin | From the Latin word dē abănte, “in front of” |
| Pronunciation | /daˈvanti/ |
Davanti
In front of, opposite from
Davanti in Italian: Examples
Ho parcheggiato l’auto davanti al negozio.
I parked my car in front of the store.
Il traghetto parte dal molo davanti al porto.
The ferry leaves from the pier in front of the harbor.
Il cinema si trova davanti alla stazione ferroviaria.
The cinema is located in front of the train station.
Luca soffre di mal d’auto e si siede sempre davanti.
Luke gets carsick and always sits in the front.
Davanti in Italian: How to use it
We’ve said that davanti in Italian is an adverb and a preposition that translates to the English words “in front of” and “opposite from”. As an adverb, it follows a verb.
Io mi siedo davanti, tu siediti dietro.
I sit in the front, you sit in the back.
(imperative mood)
As a preposition, davanti needs to be followed by another preposition, a, which translates “to”. Davanti a literally means “in front to”.
La ragazza si mette davanti allo specchio.
The girl stands in front of the mirror.
Davanti a is also used in front of pronouns, not just nouns.
Gli occhiali sono proprio davanti a te.
The glasses are right in front of you.
Less commonly, davanti in Italian can also be used as a noun to translate “the front of sth”.
Abbiamo fatto ridipingere il davanti della casa.
We had the front of the house repainted.
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