Italian Sotto Sopra, Su Giù: Location Adverbs (B1)

🔍 In short. Italian glues short location words together into ready-made phrases that act as a single adverb. Sottosopra means upside down or in a mess. Su giù (with per: su per giù) means roughly, about. Su e giù, with the e, means back and forth, up and down. Avanti e indietro means to and fro. Qua e là means here and there. Tutt’intorno means all around. They look like baby vocabulary but they handle a huge share of everyday Italian. This B1 guide sorts them by meaning, shows when the e matters, when per changes the sense, when to add the preposition a, and how to weave them into natural sentences. The italian sotto sopra su giu family is one of those bridges between A2 vocabulary and adult fluency.

Get the italian sotto sopra su giu family right and your Italian gains the small, glue-like phrases that native speakers use ten times a day without thinking. We will move from the literal location sense to the figurative meaning, with a dialogue set at a frantoio in the hills above Imperia at the peak of the taggiasca olive harvest. By the end of this guide you will know which connector to use, where the apostrophe goes, and when to add the preposition a. The set is small but high-frequency.

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What the sotto / sopra / su / giù family covers

Walk into a frantoio in the Ligurian hills above Imperia during olive season and you will hear, in five minutes, half the italian sotto sopra su giu family in action. The phrases tumble out of every conversation about work, weather, deliveries, and where things ended up: il furgone va su e giù tutto il giorno, le cassette sono sottosopra in magazzino, qua e là c’è ancora qualche oliva sul telone, tutt’intorno solo il rumore della macina. These short compound phrases pack location and movement into two or three words. They are technically adverbs, even though they are made of pieces you already know as prepositions.

The pattern behind the family is simple. Take two location words (sotto, sopra, su, giù, avanti, indietro, qua, là, intorno) and pair them, sometimes with e in the middle, sometimes glued together as one word, sometimes with per instead of e. Each version means something slightly different. Mixing them up is one of the small habits that signals a learner.

• Ho cercato le forbici da potatura qua e là.
  I looked for the pruning shears here and there.
• Il trattore va su e giù per il sentiero da stamattina.
  The tractor has been going up and down the path since this morning.
• La cantina è sottosopra dopo la consegna delle taggiasche.
  The cellar is upside down after the taggiasca delivery.
• Tutt’intorno alla casa abbiamo solo uliveti.
  All around the house we have only olive groves.
• Su per giù saranno trecento alberi.
  Roughly three hundred trees.

Notice how the same building blocks (su, giù) give two completely different meanings depending on the connector: su e giù with the e means physical back-and-forth motion, while su per giù with per means roughly, approximately. This is the kind of small detail that the rest of this guide will untangle.

Sottosopra: upside down, in a mess

The first member of the family is sottosopra, usually written as one word. Of all these phrases, this is the one most often misspelt by English speakers. It means literally upside down: a box flipped over, a painting hung the wrong way. Its second meaning, far more common in conversation, is figurative: in a mess, in disorder, turned upside down. The Treccani vocabolario lists both senses, with the figurative use far ahead in daily speech.

• Ho trovato la cassetta delle taggiasche sottosopra in cantina.
  I found the crate of taggiasca olives upside down in the cellar.
• Da quando è arrivata la nipote, casa mia è sottosopra.
  Ever since my granddaughter arrived, my house is a mess.
• Mettere sottosopra un cassetto per cercare una vite.
  To turn a drawer upside down looking for a screw.
• Dopo la notizia, Speranza è rimasta sottosopra per giorni.
  After the news, Speranza was shaken up for days.
• Il magazzino è sottosopra: la consegna è arrivata in anticipo.
  The warehouse is in chaos: the delivery came early.

Three uses to keep separate inside this family. As an adverb (la cassetta è sottosopra), as a fixed expression with mettere (mettere sottosopra una casa = to tear a house apart looking for something), and as a figurative way to describe someone shaken or upset (essere sottosopra). Spelling: one word, sottosopra, not sotto sopra. The two-word version exists but is rare and treated as old-fashioned.

Su giù vs su e giù: roughly vs back and forth

This is the pair that trips up most learners inside the family. Su and giù can combine in three different ways, and each says something different. The connector decides the meaning.

• Su e giù (with e) = back and forth, up and down (physical motion).
  Il furgone va su e giù tra l’uliveto e il frantoio.
  The van goes back and forth between the grove and the press.
• Su per giù (with per) = roughly, about, approximately (quantity, time).
  Su per giù saranno le cinque del pomeriggio.
  It must be roughly five in the afternoon.
• Più o meno = same as su per giù, slightly more neutral in register.
  Più o meno trecento alberi nella fascia bassa.
  Roughly three hundred trees on the lower terrace.

The Treccani entry on quantity adverbs groups all’incirca, più o meno, su per giù, né più né meno, press’a poco together as approximation phrases, separate from the motion branch of this family. Su e giù with e belongs to a different family: physical motion. Speakers across Liguria, Toscana and the Veneto often say su e giù da Genova, su e giù per le scale, su e giù come uno yo-yo. Same building blocks, opposite worlds.

• Speranza fa su e giù da Genova ogni venerdì.
  Speranza goes back and forth from Genoa every Friday.
• Su per giù dieci litri per cassetta.
  Roughly ten litres per crate.
• La gatta cammina su e giù sul muretto come se cercasse qualcosa.
  The cat paces up and down the wall as if looking for something.
• Costerà su per giù trenta euro al chilo, è olio nuovo.
  It will cost about thirty euros a kilo, it’s new oil.

Avanti e indietro: to and fro

The pair avanti e indietro, the third pillar of the family, works only with motion, never with approximation. It describes movement that goes forward and then back, often repeatedly: pacing, shuttling, cleaning, ferrying. The connector e is almost always there in writing; you may hear the short form avanti indietro in fast speech, but the standard written form keeps the e. This pair is a strict motion-only doublet, with no approximation use.

• Gioacchino cammina avanti e indietro per i terrazzamenti dalle sei.
  Gioacchino walks back and forth along the terraces since six.
• Il bambino va avanti e indietro con il triciclo, non si stanca mai.
  The child goes to and fro on the tricycle, he never gets tired.
• Ho passato la giornata avanti e indietro tra l’anagrafe e il tribunale.
  I spent the day shuttling between the registry office and the courthouse.
• La spola del telaio fa avanti e indietro decine di volte al minuto.
  The loom shuttle moves back and forth dozens of times a minute.
• Speranza ha fatto avanti e indietro da Torino tutto l’autunno.
  Speranza has been commuting back and forth from Turin all autumn.

Two close cousins of this family to keep apart. Avanti alone means forward (motion or time): andiamo avanti, going forward; it is also a polite encouragement to enter: Avanti!, Come in! Davanti is a different word, meaning in front (static position): davanti alla porta, in front of the door. online forums threads regularly remind learners not to use avanti as a preposition; the correct preposition is davanti a.

Qua e là: here and there, scattered

Within the family, the pair qua e là covers a different idea: not motion between two fixed points, but presence or action in scattered places. English would say here and there, or scattered around. Notice that this pair uses qua and là, never qui and lì. The Treccani note on adverbs of place is precise: qua and là mark vague areas, qui and lì mark specific points; in a paired phrase that means dispersion, the vaguer pair wins.

• Ho cercato la chiave qua e là, ma non l’ho trovata.
  I looked here and there for the key, but I couldn’t find it.
• Sul terreno c’erano olive cadute qua e là.
  On the ground there were olives scattered here and there.
• Qua e là si vedeva ancora qualche foglia rossa sui terrazzamenti.
  Here and there you could still see a few red leaves on the terraces.
• Si parlava qua e là di cambiare frantoio per la prossima stagione.
  People were talking here and there about changing press for the next season.
• Margherita ha messo i barattoli qua e là, senza un vero ordine.
  Margherita placed the jars here and there, without any real order.

Two related forms with the same scattering sense: di qua e di là (literally on this side and on that side, often crossing a boundary) and di tanto in tanto (now and then, time rather than space). Di qua e di là del fiume means on both sides of the river; guardava di qua e di là means he was looking around in all directions.

Tutt’intorno: all around

The form tutt’intorno, the last big member of the family that this guide covers, is a fixed adverbial phrase formed by eliding tutto before intorno. The Treccani entry on tutto lists it explicitly among the adverbial expressions that take elision: tutt’a un tratto, tutt’al più, tutt’intorno, tutt’altro. It means all around, on every side. The apostrophe is required: tutto intorno written separately is grammatical but feels heavier and is less common in modern prose.

• Tutt’intorno al frantoio si sentiva solo il rumore della macina.
  All around the press you could hear only the sound of the millstone.
• Tutt’intorno c’erano uliveti fino al mare.
  All around there were olive groves down to the sea.
• Speranza ha messo le candele tutt’intorno al tavolo.
  Speranza placed the candles all around the table.
• Tutt’intorno alla villa correva una piccola siepe di rosmarino.
  All around the villa ran a small rosemary hedge.
• I bambini hanno girato tutt’intorno al carrubo per ore.
  The kids ran all around the carob tree for hours.

Inside this family, use tutt’intorno a + noun when you want to specify what is at the centre of the circle, and tutt’intorno on its own when the centre is implied. Compare: tutt’intorno alla casa c’erano gli ulivi (specific centre) versus tutt’intorno si vedevano solo ulivi (the centre is wherever the speaker is standing).

Compounds with qua and là: qua sotto, là sopra

A second productive pattern in the family combines qua or là with another location word to point precisely. The Treccani entry on adverbs of place lists qua sotto, qua sopra, là sopra, là dentro, là fuori, quassù, quaggiù, lassù, laggiù as a single family: each name pins a position relative to the speaker. The first three or four are still written as two words; the rest have fused into one.

• Le reti per la raccolta le tengo qui sotto, accanto al trattore.
  I keep the harvesting nets right under here, next to the tractor.
• La scala è là sopra, sul soppalco del magazzino.
  The ladder is up there, on the warehouse mezzanine.
• Da quassù si vede tutta la valle fino al mare.
  From up here you can see the whole valley down to the sea.
• Laggiù in fondo c’è il vecchio frantoio di pietra.
  Down there at the end there’s the old stone press.
• Là dentro non ci entra mai nessuno, è la cantina del nonno.
  Nobody ever goes in there, it’s grandfather’s cellar.

A common slip is to pair qui or lì with the second word: qui sotto exists and is fine when you mean exactly under this spot, but là sopra is the standard form when the spot is over there, vague and somewhere up. As a rule, if the place is precise, qui/lì + sotto/sopra; if the place is vague and at some distance, qua/là + sotto/sopra. Italians break this rule constantly in speech, but writing follows the precise-versus-vague split.

Do I need ‘a’ after sopra and sotto?

This is the most asked question on online forums threads about the family. The short answer: with a noun, the preposition a is optional and often dropped; with a pronoun, you must add di; as a bare adverb, no preposition.

• La chiave è sopra il tavolo. = La chiave è sopra al tavolo.
  The key is on the table. (both forms are accepted, no ‘a’ is more common in modern Italian)
• Il gatto dorme sotto la sedia. = Il gatto dorme sotto alla sedia.
  The cat sleeps under the chair.
• Gioacchino è arrivato sopra di me. (with pronoun: di is required)
  Gioacchino arrived above me.
• Sotto di noi c’erano gli ulivi più vecchi.
  Below us were the oldest olive trees.
• Passa sopra! (bare adverb, no preposition)
  Step over it!

Inside this family, the Treccani vocabolario notes that sopra a and sotto a are slightly old-fashioned with nouns and that modern writing tends to drop the a: sopra il tavolo, sotto la panca. With pronouns, however, the di is mandatory and there is no shortcut: sopra di te, sotto di lui, dietro di noi. The same logic applies to other paired adverbs like dietro, davanti, vicino.

Cheat sheet at a glance

One table to keep open while you build a sentence with the family at B1. Use the cheat sheet as a quick lookup; come back to the full sections above whenever a row needs more context.

Phrase	Meaning	Example	English
sottosopra	upside down, in a mess	La cantina è sottosopra.	The cellar is in chaos.
su e giù	back and forth, up and down (motion)	Il furgone va su e giù tutto il giorno.	The van goes back and forth all day.
su per giù	roughly, about (approximation)	Su per giù trecento alberi.	Roughly three hundred trees.
più o meno	roughly, more or less	Più o meno alle cinque.	Roughly at five.
avanti e indietro	to and fro, shuttling	Cammino avanti e indietro.	I’m pacing back and forth.
qua e là	here and there, scattered	Olive cadute qua e là.	Olives scattered here and there.
di qua e di là	on this side and that side	Di qua e di là del torrente.	On both sides of the stream.
tutt’intorno (a)	all around	Tutt’intorno alla casa.	All around the house.
qua sotto / qua sopra	right under / over here	Le reti sono qui sotto.	The nets are under here.
là sopra / là dentro	up there / in there	La scala è là sopra.	The ladder is up there.
quassù / quaggiù / lassù / laggiù	up here / down here / up there / down there	Da quassù si vede il mare.	From up here you see the sea.

Five traps for English speakers

These are the recurring slips with the family. Fixing them is fast and immediate. Each trap below targets a specific pattern that English speakers tend to misread on first contact.

Trap 1: Confusing su e giù with su per giù in this family

The connector decides everything in this branch of the family. Su e giù with e means physical back-and-forth. Su per giù with per means roughly, about. Saying il furgone va su per giù sounds wrong: it would mean the van is approximately. Conversely, su e giù trecento alberi is wrong: trees do not move. Lock the pair: e for motion, per for approximation.

Trap 2: Writing sottosopra as two words

Inside this family, the standard modern spelling is sottosopra, one word, when you mean upside down or in a mess. The two-word version sotto sopra exists in old texts but feels archaic today. If you write la casa è sotto sopra, a native reader will pause for a second; la casa è sottosopra reads cleanly.

Trap 3: Using avanti as a preposition

Inside this family, avanti is an adverb (forward) or an interjection (come in!), not a preposition. The preposition meaning in front of is davanti a. Avanti alla porta is wrong; the correct form is davanti alla porta. Inside the pair avanti e indietro, the word stays adverbial: it describes motion, not location relative to an object.

Trap 4: Italian sotto sopra su giu tutt’intorno without the apostrophe

Inside this family, the elision of tutto to tutt’ is required by the Treccani note on the adverbial set tutt’a un tratto, tutt’al più, tutt’intorno, tutt’altro. Writing tutto intorno as two words is not wrong, but it is much less common in published prose. Sticking with tutt’intorno matches what you will see in newspapers, books and recipes.

Trap 5: Italian sotto sopra su giu sopra/sotto + a before a pronoun

For prepositions inside this family: with a noun, the preposition a after sopra and sotto is optional and often dropped: sopra il tavolo. With a pronoun, the correct preposition is di, not a: sopra di me, sotto di noi, dietro di te. Forms like sopra a me or sotto a lei sound off; the di is fixed and obligatory.

Dialogue at the frantoio above Imperia

End of October in the hills above Imperia, peak of the taggiasca harvest. Speranza has driven up from Genoa for the weekend to help her uncle Gioacchino at the family frantoio. They meet in the courtyard between the press and the storage cellar at the end of a long day. Notice how many phrases from the family surface in three minutes of relaxed conversation.

What to notice in the dialogue

• Qua e là in magazzino: scattered places, no specific point.
• Là sopra, sul soppalco: vague distance plus precise floor.
• Tutto sottosopra: one word, figurative chaos.
• Su per giù sei quintali: approximation, the per form.
• Avanti e indietro dal terrazzamento: shuttling motion, the e form.
• Andato giù tre volte: bare giù as direction adverb.
• Tutt’intorno alla cisterna: elision plus a + noun.
• Su e giù sul muretto: motion sense, with e.
• Qua sotto, dietro alla legnaia: precise spot under here, plus dietro + a noun.
• Da quassù: fused form, vague-and-up.

Mini-challenge

Test your understanding

Take the quiz below to test what you’ve learned about the family. The drill mixes motion, approximation, scattering, and the preposition rules covered above.

Frequently asked questions

These questions about the family come from real Italian-learner forums and from the Treccani vocabolario entries on sottosopra and intorno. They cover the six doubts that come up most often at B1.

Related guides

• Italian Da Un Lato, Da Ogni Parte: From All Sides: another paired-location adverb family with contrastive sides.
• Italian Attraverso, Per, Lungo: Motion Through: prepositions for going through a space, complementing the static pairs above.
• Italian Repeated Adjectives: Rosso Rosso for Emphasis: the doubling pattern that parallels paired location adverbs.
• Treccani vocabolario: sottosopra: the institutional dictionary entry on the literal and figurative senses.