How to use Quando – Poi – Dopo – Prima

Do you make mistakes with words like QUANDO and POI? Do you have problems choosing between DOPO and PRIMA? Are you sometimes unsure about the correct forms of these seemingly easy words? The following post will help you to learn How to use Quando – Poi – Dopo – Prima and avoid mistakes.

---

QUANDO (When)

Quando can be both an adverb and a conjunction.

---

As an adverb

You need “QUANDO” to ask the time or the moment of something.

Quando vai a Roma?

As conjunction:

You can use QUANDO to talk about the time.

Vieni a casa mia quando vuoi

You can use QUANDO with some prepositions.

• Di quando (When) – Di quando è questo giornale? E’ di ieri
• Da quando (Since) – Da quando vai a lavorare in centro?  Da maggio
• Per quando (When) – Per quando dev’essere finito il lavoro?
• Fino a quando (How long) – Fino a quando sarai in ufficio? Fino alle sei

EXPRESSIONS with Quando 

• Di quando in quando (from time to time)

• Da quando in qua (since when)

• Quando ci vuole ci vuole (When it’s necessary -colloquial- )

• (ma) Quando mai?  (When did ever)

---

POI/DOPO (then/after/later)

• Poi and Dopo have the same meaning.
• You can use them when you want to talk about something in the future.
• Sometimes POI use the conjunction E ⇒ e poi

POI (then/after)

Only a verb can follow POI.

Vado al cinema, poi vado in discoteca.

Sometimes you don’t need to repeat the verb so it is implied.
Vado al cinema, poi in discoteca –> Verb Vado is implied

DOPO (later/after)

You can use DOPO before a verb or a noun.

VERB –> Vado al cinema, dopo vado in discoteca

• NOUN –> Dopo il cinema, vado in discoteca,

• You can’t use poi with a noun.
  Poi il cinema, vado in discoteca –> WRONG!

EXPRESSIONS with POI

Col senno di poi (With hindsight)

D’ora in poi (from now on)

Prima o poi (sooner or later)

---

PRIMA (before)

• You can use PRIMA when you want to talk about something in the past.
• Usually is followed by a verb.

• Non posso uscire perché prima devo studiare.

Sometimes prima is followed by di and che:

• Prima di
• Prima che

PRIMA DI

A verb or a noun can follow PRIMA DI:

• Prima di uscire, devo studiare (before going out I need to study)
• Devo studiare prima delle vacanze.

The verb followed by prima di is the infinitive

PRIMA CHE

The verb followed by PRIMA CHE is a subjunctive.

• Devi studiare per l’esame prima che sia troppo tardi (You must study for the exam before is too late)

Expressions with PRIMA

• prima il dovere e poi il piacere (duty before pleasure)

---

First Name

Country Choose Your Country United States of America Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antarctica Antigua And Barbuda Argentina Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bonaire, Saint Eustatius and Saba Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island Brazil British Indian Ocean Territory Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Canada Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia Comoros Congo Cook Islands Costa Rica Cote D’Ivoire Croatia Cuba Curacao Cyprus Czech Republic Democratic Republic of the Congo Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon Gambia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard and Mc Donald Islands Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Isle of Man Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey (Channel Islands) Jordan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Kuwait Kyrgyzstan Lao People’s Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macau Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Mexico Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island North Korea Northern Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Palestine Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Republic of Kosovo Reunion Romania Russia Rwanda Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Martin Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa (Independent) San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Sint Maarten Slovakia Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands South Korea South Sudan Spain Sri Lanka St. Helena St. Pierre and Miquelon Sudan Suriname Svalbard and Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syria Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkmenistan Turks & Caicos Islands Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom Uruguay USA Minor Outlying Islands Uzbekistan Vanuatu Vatican City State (Holy See) Venezuela Vietnam Virgin Islands (British) Virgin Islands (U.S.) Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe Email address:

Leave this field empty if you’re human: