How to use “oltre” in Italian (“besides”)

What does oltre mean in Italian?

Oltre in Italian means “besides, other than”.

Let’s understand when we use this expression. Have a look at this example: Would you like anything else other than coffee?

In Italian, we say oltre a. And here’s an interesting fact: oltre comes from the word ultra in Latin, which means beyond.

Just think of the meanings of the words ultrasound or ultraviolet.

Now that you know this, it might be easier for you to understand why we say oltre a.

Here’s the translation of the sentence we saw above: Vuoi qualcos’altro oltre al caffè?

How to use oltre a + noun?

As you can see, oltre a is made of two words. A is a preposition, and sometimes it changes depending on the gender and number of the noun that comes after.

This means you can also say oltre al, alla, allo, all’, ai, alle, agli.

A noun might be a person, a thing, a place, or an idea. For instance, coffee is a noun.

Sometimes before the noun, we might also find a word that indicates possession, such as mio (my), tua (your), loro (their), etc.

Make sure you pay attention to how the preposition changes depending on the noun, like in the examples below:

How to use oltre a + verb?

Other than a noun, we could also find a verb inthe infinitive (the base form such as mangiare, bere, dormire) after oltre a. It’s similar in English, so it should be easy to understand.

When oltre a is followed by a verb, we’re linking two phrases, so we always have to complete the sentence.

For instance, you cannot just say “other than sleeping,” and that’s it. It’s the same in Italian. You need the second part of the sentence.

Let’s have a look at some examples: