To talk about where things start and where they end — in space, in time, or on a scale — Romanian builds compound prepositions out of small parts. De la marks the starting point ("from"), până la marks the endpoint ("up to / until"), and the pair de la...până la frames a whole range. Alongside them sit the directional dinspre ("from the direction of"), înspre / spre ("toward"), and de pe ("from on top of"). The single most important distinction for English speakers is that "from" splits in two: de la (from a point, person, or moment) versus din (out of an interior or an origin). This page sorts the whole "from/to" family.
de la — from a point, person, or time
De la is de + la, and it names a departure point: a place you set out from, a person you got something from, a time you started at. The noun stays accusative.
Am luat trenul de la gară la ora opt.
I caught the train from the station at eight.
Am primit un mesaj de la mama acum un minut.
I got a message from Mom a minute ago.
Lucrez de la nouă, dar plec mai devreme vineri.
I work from nine, but I leave earlier on Fridays.
Note the person sense: de la mine ("from me / from my place"), de la el ("from him"). With a place it marks the spot you left: de la birou, de la școală, de la piață.
până la — up to / until
Până la marks the endpoint — how far in space, how late in time, how high on a scale. Până alone means "until/up to"; până la adds the destination noun. The noun stays accusative.
Mergem pe jos până la centru, nu e departe.
Let's walk up to the center, it's not far.
Stau treaz până la miezul nopții în fiecare seară.
I stay up until midnight every night.
Numără până la zece și deschide ochii.
Count up to ten and open your eyes.
When the endpoint is a clock time, you can use până la (până la ora trei) or just până la trei; with a clause, it becomes până când / până + verb (aștept până vii, "I'll wait until you come").
The de la...până la frame: ranges
Put them together and you frame a range — in space, time, or scale. This is the workhorse construction for "from X to Y."
Lucrez de la nouă la cinci, ca toată lumea.
I work from nine to five, like everyone else.
Trenul merge de la București până la Cluj în șapte ore.
The train runs from Bucharest to Cluj in seven hours.
Magazinul e deschis de luni până vineri.
The shop is open from Monday to Friday.
Two notes. First, in the very common "from nine to five" pattern, the second la often drops the până: de la nouă la cinci is more natural than the heavier de la nouă până la cinci (though both are correct). Second, for days of the week the la disappears: de luni până vineri, not de la luni. For times of day and clock hours you keep it: de la ora nouă până la ora cinci.
dinspre and înspre / spre — direction without arrival
Spre and its longer form înspre mean toward — pointing in a direction, not necessarily arriving. Dinspre is the mirror: from the direction of, where something comes out of a direction (wind, a sound, traffic). These are about orientation, not endpoints.
Vântul bate dinspre nord, de-aia e atât de frig.
The wind is blowing from the north, that's why it's so cold.
Ne îndreptam spre munte când a început ploaia.
We were heading toward the mountains when the rain started.
S-a auzit un zgomot dinspre bucătărie.
A noise came from the direction of the kitchen.
The contrast: spre nord = "toward the north" (where you're going); dinspre nord = "from the north" (where it's coming from). Înspre is a slightly more emphatic spre and is interchangeable with it for direction. For the la / în / spre destination contrast, see la, în, spre.
de pe — from on top of, off of
De pe is de + pe ("on"), and it means taking something off a surface — the reverse of pe (putting it on). It pairs with de pe masă ("off the table"), de pe jos ("off the floor"), de pe internet ("off the internet").
Ia farfuriile de pe masă, te rog.
Take the plates off the table, please.
Am descărcat melodia de pe internet aseară.
I downloaded the song off the internet last night.
Why "from" splits: de la vs din
English uses "from" for both "I took the train from the station" and "I'm from Cluj," but Romanian splits them by what kind of source you mean. De la marks a point you set out from — a spot, a person, a starting time. Din marks an interior you emerged from or an origin you belong to — din casă ("out of the house"), din București ("originally from Bucharest"). The test: if the source is a container or a homeland, use din; if it's a point on a path or a person handing you something, use de la.
Sunt din Iași, dar am venit acum de la aeroport.
I'm from Iași, but I just came from the airport. (origin = din; departure point = de la)
This is exactly the de / din split applied to motion; for the static version (material, quantity, "one of them"), see de, din, dintre and de vs din.
Common Mistakes
❌ Am primit un cadou din bunica mea.
Incorrect — a gift from a person is 'de la', not 'din'.
✅ Am primit un cadou de la bunica mea.
I got a present from my grandmother.
❌ Lucrez de la luni până la vineri.
Incorrect — with days of the week, drop the inner 'la': de luni până vineri.
✅ Lucrez de luni până vineri.
I work from Monday to Friday.
❌ Vântul bate spre nord, de-aia e frig.
Incorrect for wind's source — it comes 'from' a direction: dinspre nord.
✅ Vântul bate dinspre nord, de-aia e frig.
The wind blows from the north, that's why it's cold.
❌ Ia cartea din masă.
Incorrect — taking something off a surface is 'de pe', not 'din': de pe masă.
✅ Ia cartea de pe masă.
Take the book off the table.
❌ Am luat trenul din gară la ora opt.
Incorrect — a departure point is 'de la': de la gară (din gară would mean emerging from inside the building).
✅ Am luat trenul de la gară la ora opt.
I caught the train from the station at eight.
Key Takeaways
- de la = from a point, person, or time; până la = up to / until the endpoint.
- de la...până la frames a range; for days of the week drop the inner la (de luni până vineri); for clock times keep it (de la nouă la cinci).
- spre / înspre = toward (orientation); dinspre = from the direction of (a source-direction, e.g. wind).
- de pe = off a surface (de pe masă), the reverse of pe.
- "From" splits: de la (a point/person/time) vs din (an interior or origin) — both English "from."
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Start learning Romanian→Related Topics
- 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).
- Location and Direction: la, în, spre, până laA1 — How Romanian carves up space: la marks a point, activity, or destination (la școală, la doctor, la mare), în marks enclosure (în casă, în oraș), spre marks direction toward (spre nord), and până la marks the limit reached (până la gară) — with pe for surfaces (pe masă).
- Origin and Material: de, din, dintreA2 — The de family laid out systematically: de is the all-purpose linker for relation, material as a type, quantity, and the source phrase de la; din (= de + în) means from inside / out of / made out of a substance; dintre (= de + între) selects from among a defined set.
- Temporal Prepositions (în, la, de la, până, pe)A2 — How Romanian locates events in time — la for clock time and events, în for periods, de la...până la for spans, peste/acum for distance into future or past — and the high-stakes split between în două ore (within) and peste două ore (after).
- de vs din vs dintreB1 — How to choose among three look-alike prepositions: de for general relation, material, and quantity (un pahar de apă), din for emergence from an interior or origin and for composition (am ieșit din casă, din lemn), and dintre for selecting from among a defined set (doi dintre studenți).
- Spatial Prepositions: peste, sub, lângă, întreA2 — The everyday position words: peste (over/across), sub (under), lângă (next to), între (between two), printre (among several), plus deasupra (above) and dedesubtul (beneath), which take the genitive. Why 'over' splits into peste (+accusative) and deasupra (+genitive).