Partire ("to leave, depart") and arrivare ("to arrive") are the two halves of every Italian travel conversation. Quando parti? and Quando arrivi? are probably the two most-asked questions of any Italian summer. Both verbs are intransitive, both take essere in compound tenses, and both have a small but rigid set of preposition rules — partire da, partire per, arrivare a, arrivare in — that you have to get right. This page also covers the construction arrivare a + infinitive ("to manage to"), which is one of the most useful idioms in spoken Italian and not what English speakers expect.
The conjugations
Partire is a regular -ire (pure) verb: parto, parti, parte, partiamo, partite, pàrtono. Stress on the loro form falls on the root — pàrtono, not partòno.
Arrivare is a regular -are verb: arrivo, arrivi, arriva, arriviamo, arrivate, arrìvano. Same rizotonic pattern in the loro form: arrìvano, not arrivàno.
| Person | partire | arrivare |
|---|---|---|
| io | parto | arrivo |
| tu | parti | arrivi |
| lui / lei | parte | arriva |
| noi | partiamo | arriviamo |
| voi | partite | arrivate |
| loro | pàrtono | arrìvano |
Parto domani mattina alle sei, devo prendere il primo treno.
I'm leaving tomorrow morning at six — I have to catch the first train.
Arriviamo a Roma verso le quattro del pomeriggio.
We're arriving in Rome around four in the afternoon.
Partire da and partire per
Partire takes two distinct prepositions depending on whether you're naming the origin or the destination.
- partire da + place — leaving from a place
- partire per + place — leaving for a place (your destination)
Both can appear in the same sentence: Parto da Milano per Roma alle otto.
Parto da Milano alle sette, arrivo a Roma per pranzo.
I'm leaving Milan at seven, I'll be in Rome by lunch.
A che ora parte il volo da Linate?
What time does the flight from Linate leave?
Parto per Roma domani, torno lunedì.
I'm leaving for Rome tomorrow, I'll be back Monday.
L'anno prossimo partiamo per il Giappone, finalmente.
Next year we're leaving for Japan, finally.
Arrivare a vs arrivare in
Arrivare splits its preposition by the type of place — the same a/in distinction that governs andare.
- arrivare a + city — arriving in a city, town, or specific location
- arrivare in + country/region/continent — arriving in a country, region, or larger geographic area
This mirrors the standard rule: cities take a (a Roma, a Milano, a Parigi, a New York), while countries, regions, and continents take in (in Italia, in Toscana, in Europa, in Giappone).
| Pattern | Example | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| arrivare a + city | arrivo a Firenze | I arrive in Florence |
| arrivare in + country | arrivo in Francia | I arrive in France |
| arrivare in + region | arriviamo in Sicilia | we arrive in Sicily |
| arrivare a + specific place | arrivano all'aeroporto | they arrive at the airport |
| arrivare a casa | arrivo a casa alle dieci | I get home at ten |
Siamo arrivati in Italia stanotte, siamo distrutti.
We arrived in Italy last night, we're exhausted.
Arriviamo a Roma in tarda mattinata.
We're arriving in Rome in the late morning.
Quando arrivate alla stazione, chiamatemi.
When you get to the station, call me.
Sono arrivata a casa stanchissima.
I got home exhausted.
For destinations introduced by da ("to someone's place"): Arrivo da te alle sette ("I'll be at your place at seven"). The da + person construction is the equivalent of "to so-and-so's place."
Compound tenses: essere + agreement
Both verbs take essere in compound tenses, with the past participle agreeing in gender and number with the subject.
| Subject | partire (passato prossimo) | arrivare (passato prossimo) |
|---|---|---|
| io (m. / f.) | sono partito / partita | sono arrivato / arrivata |
| tu (m. / f.) | sei partito / partita | sei arrivato / arrivata |
| lui / lei | è partito / partita | è arrivato / arrivata |
| noi (m. or mixed) | siamo partiti | siamo arrivati |
| voi | siete partiti / partite | siete arrivati / arrivate |
| loro (f.) | sono partite | sono arrivate |
È partito ieri sera, dovrebbe arrivare a Berlino stamattina.
He left last night, he should be arriving in Berlin this morning.
Sono arrivate stanotte e sono già a letto.
They (women) arrived last night and they're already in bed.
Siamo partiti in ritardo per colpa del traffico.
We left late because of the traffic.
Arrivare a + infinitive: "to manage to"
This is the construction English speakers consistently miss. Arrivare a + infinitive means "to manage to do something" or — more often in the negative — "to fail to" or "to be unable to" do something. It implies that the action requires effort, and the speaker is reporting whether that effort succeeded.
Non arrivo a capire cosa vuole da me.
I can't figure out what he wants from me.
Non arrivo a finire tutto entro venerdì.
I won't manage to finish everything by Friday.
Sei arrivato a leggere fino in fondo?
Did you manage to read all the way through?
Non arrivo a credere che sia già passato un anno.
I can't believe a whole year has gone by already.
This overlaps semantically with riuscire a + infinitive (the more common synonym — see the uscire/riuscire page), but arrivare a carries a slightly stronger sense of cognitive or emotional reach. Non arrivo a capire implies "I can't quite get there mentally" — the understanding is just beyond me.
The related fixed expression arrivare fino a ("to reach as far as, go as far as") works for both physical and abstract reach:
Il sentiero arriva fino al lago.
The path reaches all the way to the lake.
È arrivato fino a dirmi che era colpa mia.
He went so far as to tell me it was my fault.
Partire vs lasciare: "to leave"
English uses one verb — to leave — for what Italian splits in two. Partire is the intransitive "depart from a place." Lasciare is the transitive "leave behind, abandon, leave something/someone."
- Parto domani — I'm leaving (I'm departing) tomorrow.
- Lascio Milano domani — I'm leaving Milan tomorrow (I'm forsaking it, moving away).
- Ho lasciato le chiavi a casa — I left the keys at home.
- L'ha lasciato dopo tre anni — She left him after three years.
Parto domani per Londra, ma non sto lasciando Milano per sempre.
I'm leaving for London tomorrow, but I'm not leaving Milan for good.
Ho lasciato l'ombrello in ufficio, devo tornare a prenderlo.
I left my umbrella at the office, I have to go back and get it.
The distinction matters: parto is a movement verb with a destination; lascio is a transitive verb with an object that stays behind. They are not interchangeable.
Common mistakes
❌ Parto a Roma domani.
Incorrect — for the destination, partire takes 'per', not 'a'. ('Parto a' is non-standard.)
✅ Parto per Roma domani.
Correct — 'partire per' for the destination.
❌ Arrivo in Roma stasera.
Incorrect — cities take 'a' (arrivo a Roma), not 'in'.
✅ Arrivo a Roma stasera.
Correct — cities always take 'a'.
❌ Siamo arrivati a Italia ieri.
Incorrect — countries take 'in' (in Italia), not 'a'.
✅ Siamo arrivati in Italia ieri.
Correct — countries take 'in'.
❌ Ho partito stamattina.
Incorrect — partire takes essere, not avere.
✅ Sono partito stamattina.
Correct — essere with participle agreement.
❌ Lascio Milano alle sette.
Likely incorrect for travel context — 'lasciare Milano' implies forsaking the city, not departing for a trip.
✅ Parto da Milano alle sette.
Correct — for departing on a trip, use partire (with da + origin).
❌ Non riesco arrivare a capire.
Incorrect — these are two distinct verbs; you don't combine them. Pick one.
✅ Non arrivo a capire. / Non riesco a capire.
Correct — both work; both mean roughly 'I can't figure it out'.
❌ Loro arrivàno alle nove.
Incorrect stress — arrìvano is rizotonic, like every Italian 3pl.
✅ Loro arrìvano alle nove.
Correct — stress on the root.
Key takeaways
Partire takes two prepositions: partire da + origin ("Parto da Milano") and partire per + destination ("Parto per Roma"). Both can appear together. Avoid partire a.
Arrivare splits by destination type: arrivare a + city ("arrivo a Firenze") and arrivare in + country/region ("arrivo in Italia"). For specific places (the airport, the station, home), use a: all'aeroporto, alla stazione, a casa.
Both verbs take essere in compound tenses with full participle agreement: sono partita, siamo arrivati, sono arrivate.
Arrivare a + infinitive means "to manage to" do something, often used in the negative (non arrivo a capire — "I can't figure out"). It overlaps with riuscire a + infinitive but emphasizes cognitive or emotional reach.
Don't confuse partire (intransitive — depart from a place) with lasciare (transitive — leave something or someone behind). They are not synonyms.
For the deictic logic of andare vs venire vs tornare, see Andare, Venire, Tornare. For passing by and returning, see Passare and Tornare.
Now practice Italian
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Open the Italian course →Related Topics
- Motion Verbs: OverviewA2 — Why most Italian motion verbs take essere in compound tenses — and the small but critical list of exceptions that take avere instead.
- Entrare and Uscire: Enter and ExitA1 — How entrare and uscire pair with their prepositions — entrare in, uscire da, plus the idiomatic 'di casa' for one's own home — and why both take essere in compound tenses.
- Andare, Venire, Tornare: Directional ContrastA1 — Three motion verbs that English collapses into 'go' and 'come' — and the deictic logic Italian uses to keep them apart, including the trap of 'I'm coming' vs 'vengo.'
- Passare and Tornare: Pass By and ReturnA2 — Why passare splits its auxiliary between essere (motion) and avere (transitive), how 'passare da' differs from 'passare per', and the everyday tornare patterns that English speakers learn last.
- Auxiliary Verbs: avere, essere, stareA2 — The three auxiliary verbs that build Italian's compound tenses, the progressive, and the imminent future — and why getting them right is foundational.
- Passato Prossimo with EssereA1 — The smaller but inescapable group of verbs that take essere as auxiliary — motion, change of state, occurrence — and the visible subject agreement that makes the participle change for every person.