You have met Romanian's prepositions in pieces across this group — the everyday ones, the spatial genitive set, the formal dative club. This page is the single reference table that puts them all in one place, sorted by the case each one governs. The point is not just to look things up; it's to see the pattern that makes the whole system predictable: case follows form. Short, ancient, single-word prepositions take the accusative; longer locutions built on a buried noun take the genitive; and a small, mostly formal set takes the dative. Once you internalize that shape, you can usually guess a new preposition's case from how it looks.
Why this matters for nouns vs pronouns
Before the chart, recall the one fact that makes the accusative column almost free: for nouns, the accusative is identical to the nominative — the plain dictionary form. So "la takes the accusative" simply means "put a normal noun after la." The genitive and dative columns do change the noun's ending (-lui, -ei, -lor), so those are the ones that cost you something. With pronouns, every column is audible: accusative prepositions take the strong pronoun (cu mine), genitive prepositions take the possessive (împotriva mea), and dative prepositions take the strong dative (datorită mie).
Stau la masă cu prietenii și vorbim despre concert.
I'm sitting at the table with friends and we're talking about the concert. (la, cu, despre — all accusative, plain nouns)
The accusative prepositions (the large default class)
These are the workhorses. Almost every preposition you use daily is here, and the noun after them is just the ordinary form. With a pronoun, use the strong form (cu mine, pentru tine, despre ei).
| Preposition | Core meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| la | at, to | la școală — at school |
| în | in, into | în oraș — in town |
| pe | on; object marker | pe masă — on the table |
| cu | with | cu trenul — by train |
| de | of, from (relation) | un pahar de apă — a glass of water |
| din | out of, from inside | din București — from Bucharest |
| dintre | from among, between | unul dintre noi — one of us |
| spre | toward | spre casă — toward home |
| până (la) | until, up to | până la gară — up to the station |
| fără | without | fără zahăr — without sugar |
| pentru | for | pentru tine — for you |
| prin | through, by means of | prin parc — through the park |
| printre | among, between | printre copaci — among the trees |
| peste | over, across; in (time) | peste pod — over the bridge |
| sub | under | sub masă — under the table |
| lângă | next to | lângă fereastră — by the window |
| între | between | între noi — between us |
| despre | about | despre carte — about the book |
| după | after, behind | după prânz — after lunch |
Trenul trece peste pod și apoi prin tunel.
The train goes over the bridge and then through the tunnel.
Unul dintre colegi a întârziat, dar restul au venit la timp.
One of the colleagues was late, but the rest came on time. (dintre + accusative)
The genitive prepositions (noun-based locutions)
Every member here contains, or descends from, an articled noun — which is exactly why its object is a genitive possessor. They change the noun's ending and take a possessive with pronouns (în fața mea, împotriva lor).
| Preposition | Meaning | Buried noun | Example (+ genitive) |
|---|---|---|---|
| deasupra | above | supra "top" | deasupra mesei |
| dedesubtul | below, underneath | desubt "underside" | dedesubtul podului |
| înaintea | before, ahead of | înainte "front" | înaintea plecării |
| în fața | in front of | față "face" | în fața casei |
| în spatele | behind | spate "back" | în spatele blocului |
| în jurul | around | jur "surround" | în jurul mesei |
| în mijlocul | in the middle of | mijloc "middle" | în mijlocul nopții |
| în timpul | during | timp "time" | în timpul filmului |
| de-a lungul | along | lung "length" | de-a lungul râului |
| din cauza | because of | cauză "cause" | din cauza ploii |
| în pofida / în ciuda | despite | pofidă / ciudă "spite" | în pofida criticilor |
| împotriva / contra | against | (opposition) | împotriva deciziei |
| asupra | upon, about | supra "top" | asupra problemei |
Am parcat în fața farmaciei, lângă intrare.
I parked in front of the pharmacy, by the entrance. (în fața + genitive farmaciei)
În timpul concertului, telefonul trebuie închis.
During the concert, the phone must be switched off. (în timpul + genitive)
The dative prepositions (the small formal club)
A short, mostly formal list. The noun looks identical to a genitive (gen and dat share one form), but with pronouns they take the strong dative (datorită mie, conform lor), which is the giveaway.
| Preposition | Meaning | Register | Example (+ dative) |
|---|---|---|---|
| datorită | thanks to (good cause) | neutral | datorită ajutorului tău |
| grație | thanks to, owing to | literary | grație unei burse |
| mulțumită | thanks to | neutral/formal | mulțumită vecinilor |
| conform | according to | legal/formal | conform legii |
| potrivit | according to | journalistic | potrivit surselor |
| contrar | contrary to | formal/academic | contrar așteptărilor |
| asemenea | like, similar to | literary | asemenea tatălui său |
Potrivit prognozei, mâine va ninge în toată țara.
According to the forecast, it will snow across the country tomorrow. (potrivit + dative)
Am ajuns la timp datorită ție.
I arrived on time thanks to you. (datorită + strong dative pronoun ție)
How to use the chart
When you hit a noun after a preposition, run a two-step check. First, identify the preposition's case from the chart (or guess it from form: short = accusative, noun-locution = genitive, the formal set = dative). Second, shape the object accordingly — plain noun for accusative, genitive ending for the genitive set, gen-dat ending for the dative set; and for pronouns, strong form (accusative), possessive (genitive), or strong dative (dative). The reason this works is the form-to-case correspondence: Romanian did not assign cases to prepositions at random, so the chart is more a map of a pattern than a list to brute-force memorize.
Cartea e despre război, dar coperta arată un câmp de flori.
The book is about war, but the cover shows a field of flowers. (despre + accusative)
Conform regulamentului, nu putem intra fără legitimație.
According to the regulations, we can't enter without an ID. (conform + dative; fără + accusative)
Common Mistakes
Don't treat every preposition as accusative — the genitive set changes the noun:
❌ deasupra ușa
Incorrect — deasupra governs the genitive: deasupra ușii.
✅ deasupra ușii
above the door
Don't put a conform/potrivit object in the plain form — it's dative:
❌ conform planul
Incorrect — conform takes the dative: conform planului.
✅ conform planului
according to the plan
Don't use the strong pronoun after a genitive preposition — use the possessive:
❌ în jurul mine
Incorrect — genitive prepositions take the possessive: în jurul meu.
✅ în jurul meu
around me
Don't use the subject pronoun after an accusative preposition:
❌ fără tu
Incorrect — accusative prepositions take the strong pronoun: fără tine.
✅ fără tine
without you
Don't assume a "spatial" word is always genitive — peste, sub, lângă, între are accusative:
❌ peste podului
Incorrect — peste is accusative, so the plain noun: peste pod.
✅ peste pod
over the bridge
Key Takeaways
- Accusative is the large default class (la, în, pe, cu, de, din, dintre, spre, până, fără, pentru, prin, printre, peste, sub, lângă, între, despre, după); for nouns it's the plain form.
- Genitive prepositions are the noun-based locutions (deasupra, în fața, în jurul, în timpul, din cauza, împotriva, contra, asupra, de-a lungul, în pofida); they change the noun ending and take a possessive with pronouns.
- Dative is a small, mostly formal set (datorită, grație, mulțumită, conform, potrivit, contrar, asemenea).
- Case follows form, so it's largely predictable; confirm any doubt with the pronoun test (cu mine / împotriva mea / datorită mie).
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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).
- 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.
- Prepositions Governing the DativeB2 — A small but high-value set of formal prepositions — datorită, grație, mulțumită ('thanks to'), contrar ('contrary to'), conform/potrivit ('according to'), asemenea ('like') — that take the dative, plus the crucial datorită (good cause) vs din cauza (bad cause) split that even advanced speakers get wrong.
- Genitive Prepositions in Depth: asupra, împotriva, contraB2 — A close look at the genitive-governing prepositions that aren't purely spatial — asupra (upon/about), împotriva and contra (against), deasupra, dedesubtul, înaintea, înapoia, de-a lungul, în pofida — why they all descend from articled nouns, and why their pronoun object is the possessive (asupra mea, împotriva lor), not a strong pronoun.
- 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.
- Nominative and AccusativeA2 — Why Romanian's subject case and direct-object case share a single noun form, and how word order plus the 'pe' object marker and clitic doubling recover the subject/object distinction that case-marking alone can't make.