The genitive-prepositions page gives you the working list and the headline rule: a class of relational prepositions takes the genitive, not the accusative. This page zooms in on the members that cause the most trouble — asupra, împotriva, contra, deasupra, dedesubtul, înaintea, înapoia, de-a lungul, în pofida — because they are not all simply "above / behind / in front of." Several of them are abstract (asupra problemei, "on the problem"; în pofida dificultăților, "despite the difficulties"), and that abstractness makes the genitive harder to feel. The reward for working through them is a single, deep insight that makes the whole class click: these prepositions are frozen "noun-of" phrases, so their pronoun object behaves like a possessor — it takes the possessive form, not a strong pronoun.
asupra — "upon, about, over" (and the verb that loves it)
Asupra governs the genitive and has two everyday senses. The first is figurative "upon / about / regarding": asupra problemei ("on the problem"), asupra subiectului ("on the subject"). The second is physical "down upon," especially with verbs of attacking or rushing: a se năpusti asupra ("to pounce upon"), a trage asupra ("to fire upon"). It is more literary and formal than the everyday despre ("about"), so reserve it for careful or written register.
Discuția de azi e asupra reformei fiscale.
Today's discussion is on the fiscal reform. (formal; everyday speech would say despre reformă)
Câinele s-a năpustit asupra hoțului.
The dog pounced upon the thief.
Vreau să atrag atenția asupra unui detaliu important.
I want to draw attention to an important detail. (a atrage atenția asupra — a fixed collocation)
împotriva and contra — "against"
Both mean "against" and both take the genitive. Împotriva is the everyday, neutral word — protests, votes, fights, medicines: împotriva deciziei ("against the decision"), un vaccin împotriva gripei ("a flu vaccine"). Contra is shorter, a touch more clipped and bureaucratic or sporting; you also meet it in fixed phrases like pro și contra ("for and against") and contra cost ("for a fee"). In most sentences they are interchangeable, with împotriva sounding slightly fuller and contra slightly more abrupt.
Mii de oameni au protestat împotriva deciziei guvernului.
Thousands of people protested against the government's decision.
Echipa noastră joacă mâine contra campioanei.
Our team plays against the champions tomorrow.
Au cântărit toate argumentele pro și contra proiectului.
They weighed all the arguments for and against the project.
The spatial set: deasupra, dedesubtul, înaintea, înapoia, de-a lungul
These are the concrete, positional members. Deasupra ("above"), dedesubtul ("underneath, below"), înaintea ("before, ahead of," in place or time), înapoia ("behind" — more literary than în spatele), and de-a lungul ("along") all take the genitive. Înaintea is especially useful because it covers both space ("ahead of the others") and time ("before the meeting"), unlike English, which splits those.
| Preposition | Meaning | Example (+ genitive) |
|---|---|---|
| deasupra | above, over | deasupra norilor — above the clouds |
| dedesubtul | underneath, below | dedesubtul podului — beneath the bridge |
| înaintea | before (place/time), ahead of | înaintea ședinței — before the meeting |
| înapoia | behind (literary) | înapoia casei — behind the house |
| de-a lungul | along, throughout | de-a lungul secolului — throughout the century |
Avionul zboară deasupra norilor, deci nu vedem nimic.
The plane is flying above the clouds, so we can't see anything.
Înaintea examenului, m-am simțit incredibil de calm.
Before the exam, I felt incredibly calm.
în pofida — "despite, in spite of"
În pofida (and its near-twin în ciuda) means "despite / in spite of" and governs the genitive. Pofidă and ciudă are real nouns (roughly "spite, defiance"), so the structure is again "in the spite of X." În pofida is the more formal and written variant; în ciuda is the everyday one. Both are extremely common in news and argumentative prose, where you constantly need to concede a point.
În pofida criticilor, filmul a avut un succes uriaș.
Despite the critics, the film was a huge success. (formal/written register)
În ciuda ploii, am ieșit la o plimbare.
In spite of the rain, we went out for a walk. (everyday register)
Why the genitive: they're all "noun-of" phrases
The thread tying every item on this page together is that none of them is a "pure" preposition the way English above or against is. Each descends from a noun plus its definite article. Asupra hides supra (the "upper part / top"); deasupra is "from-the upper-of"; împotriva and în pofida hide nouns of opposition and spite; de-a lungul hides lung ("length") — literally "along the length of." Once a preposition is built on a noun, its complement is automatically the possessor of that noun, and possessors in Romanian take the genitive. So deasupra orașului parses as "the-upper of-the-city," and orașului is genitive for the same reason any possessor is. This is not a list of exceptions to memorize one by one — it is one rule applied to a family of fossilized nouns.
De-a lungul anilor, orașul s-a schimbat complet.
Over the years, the city has changed completely. (lit. 'along the length of the years')
În pofida tuturor obstacolelor, și-a atins scopul.
In spite of all the obstacles, she reached her goal.
The pronoun test: possessive, not strong pronoun
Here is the payoff insight, and the place English speakers reliably go wrong. When the object of one of these prepositions is a pronoun, Romanian does not use a strong pronoun the way it does after cu, pentru, despre (cu mine, pentru tine). Instead it uses the possessive adjective, agreeing with the buried noun: asupra mea ("upon me"), împotriva ta ("against you"), deasupra noastră ("above us"), împotriva lor ("against them"). This falls straight out of the noun-of analysis: since the pronoun is really a possessor, it shows up exactly as it would on a noun — cartea mea ("my book"), împotriva mea ("against me," lit. "my against").
| Person | After these prepositions (possessive) |
|---|---|
| 1sg | asupra mea, împotriva mea |
| 2sg | împotriva ta, deasupra ta |
| 3sg m./f. | împotriva lui / ei |
| 1pl | deasupra noastră, împotriva noastră |
| 2pl | împotriva voastră |
| 3pl | împotriva lor |
Toți erau împotriva mea în ședință.
Everyone was against me in the meeting. (possessive mea, not the strong pronoun mine)
Norii se adunau deasupra noastră.
The clouds were gathering above us. (possessive noastră)
Nu am nimic împotriva lor.
I have nothing against them. (împotriva + lor, the third-person possessive)
A note on the third person: lui, ei, lor do double duty
There is one spot where the possessive and the strong-dative forms look identical: the third person. Împotriva lui ("against him"), împotriva ei ("against her"), împotriva lor ("against them") use lui/ei/lor, which are the same shapes you would see as strong datives. That overlap is harmless — both are "of him / of her / of them" historically — but it means the possessive nature of the construction is only visible in the first and second persons (mea, ta, noastră, voastră). So whenever you are unsure, conjugate the test in the first person: if "against me" comes out as împotriva mea (and it does), you know the whole class is possessive.
Probele strânse împotriva lui erau zdrobitoare.
The evidence gathered against him was crushing.
Common Mistakes
Don't leave the noun in the plain (nominative) form — these prepositions all demand the genitive:
❌ asupra problema
Incorrect — asupra governs the genitive: asupra problemei (problemă → probleme → problemei).
✅ asupra problemei
on the problem
Don't use a strong pronoun where the possessive is required:
❌ Toți sunt împotriva mine.
Incorrect — these prepositions take the possessive, not the strong pronoun: împotriva mea.
✅ Toți sunt împotriva mea.
Everyone is against me.
Don't forget the genitive plural ending after contra/împotriva:
❌ contra regulile
Incorrect — contra takes the genitive plural: contra regulilor.
✅ contra regulilor
against the rules
Don't reach for accusative despre when formal register wants asupra — and don't put its object in the plain form:
❌ Raportul e asupra situația economică.
Incorrect — asupra takes the genitive: asupra situației economice.
✅ Raportul e asupra situației economice.
The report is on the economic situation.
Don't treat în pofida as accusative because it doesn't "look" spatial — it still governs the genitive:
❌ în pofida dificultățile
Incorrect — în pofida takes the genitive plural: în pofida dificultăților.
✅ în pofida dificultăților
despite the difficulties
Key Takeaways
- Asupra (upon/about), împotriva and contra (against), deasupra, dedesubtul, înaintea, înapoia, de-a lungul, în pofida all govern the genitive.
- They are not arbitrary: each descends from an articled noun, so their object is a possessor — and possessors take the genitive.
- The decisive test is the pronoun: these take a possessive (asupra mea, împotriva ta, deasupra noastră, împotriva lor), never a strong pronoun (
împotriva mine). - The third-person forms lui/ei/lor overlap with strong datives; confirm the class by checking the first person (împotriva mea).
- Register: asupra and în pofida are formal/written; everyday speech prefers despre and în ciuda.
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Start learning Romanian→Related Topics
- Prepositions Governing the GenitiveB2 — A class of spatial and relational prepositions — deasupra, în fața, în jurul, împotriva, de-a lungul — require the genitive, while datorită/grație/mulțumită take the dative; how to recognize and use them.
- Complex and Compound PrepositionsB2 — An inventory of Romanian's multi-word prepositional locutions — în fața, în spatele, în timpul, din cauza (genitive), datorită (dative), în loc de, pe lângă, referitor la — grouped by the case they govern, with the hidden-noun logic that makes that case predictable.
- Romanian Prepositions: OverviewA1 — The lay of the land: most everyday Romanian prepositions (la, în, pe, cu, de, din, până, spre, fără, pentru, despre) govern the accusative — which for nouns looks identical to the nominative — while a class of relational prepositions demands the genitive (deasupra) or dative (datorită), and all of them take the strong form of a pronoun (cu mine, never *cu eu).
- The Genitive (possession, 'of')B1 — How Romanian expresses possession and the 'of'-relation by inflecting the possessor — masculine -lui, feminine -ei/-ii — with no preposition, plus proper names with lui and the genitival article al/a/ai/ale.
- Case Marking on PronounsB1 — Why Romanian pronouns preserve a far richer case system than nouns — distinct nominative (eu, tu, el), accusative (mă/pe mine, te/pe tine), and dative (îmi/mie, îți/ție) forms, split into clitic and strong sets — and how this is where most of the real case-learning happens.