After someone says grazie (thank you) or grazie mille (many thanks/a thousand thanks), what do you say? There are various choices, so let's take a look. Here is the most basic answer, and it's the one you might already have learned.
Per festeggiare, ti offro un gelato. Grazie! -Prego.
To celebrate, I'll treat you to an ice cream. Thanks! -You're welcome.
Captions 36-37, Francesca alla guida - Part 3
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The only tricky thing about prego is that it can mean a host of things, such as "this way," "go ahead," "after you," "here you are." See this lesson about pregare, the verb from which prego (the first person singular of pregare) stems.
Another common way to say "You're welcome!" is di niente or di nulla. They both mean, literally, "of nothing." This response implies that granting whatever is being thanked for was not a burden or problem.
Grazie per l'assistenza. Di niente.
Thanks for your help. Think nothing of it.
Captions 53-54, La Ladra EP. 4 - Una magica bionda - Part 1
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These days in English, some people say, "No problem."
Yet another way of saying "You're welcome" is to question why someone would feel the need to thank you. The full version of the expression is di che cosa (for what [thing])?
È bellissimo! Grazie. -E di cosa?
It's beautiful! Thank you. -And for what? [it was nothing]
Captions 27-28, JAMS S1 EP8 - Part 6
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This can be shortened to e di che (for what)? In other words, what are you thanking me for or why are you thanking me?
Here is a variation, except it's not in the form of a question.
Non c'è di che.
Don't mention it. (there's nothing to thank me for or "It was nothing."
Caption 74, Sposami EP 4 - Part 7
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When you want to be really clear that you were glad to do the favor, you can say, ci mancherebbe! or ci mancherebbe altro.
Io gli dico: "Grazie mille!" "È stato gentilissimo". E questo signore mi risponde: "Ci mancherebbe altro".
And I say, “Many thanks!” “You've been very kind.” And this man responds to me with: “It's the least I could do.”
Captions 36-38, Marika spiega Il verbo mancare
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See also Marika's video where she talks about the verb mancare. It's a tricky verb in Italian and used in many situations. See also this lesson about ci mancherebbe.
Yet another response when someone says grazie is: figurati. This is the informal. In our example, before saying "thank you," Pietro's saxophone teacher says, "You shouldn't have." which stands in for "thank you."
Ciao. -Cinzia. [Ho] Portato una bottiglia. Ma non dovevi. Figurati. Grazie mille, eh.
Hi. -Cinzia. [I] brought a bottle. But you shouldn't have. It was nothing. Thanks, a lot, huh.
Captions 1-5, Imma Tataranni Sostituto procuratore S1 EP5 Rione Serra Venerdì - Part 29
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Here is an example of the same thing, using the polite form.
Ecco. -Grazie. -Si figuri.
Here. -Thanks. -Don't mention it.
Captions 24-25, Il Commissario Manara S1EP2 - Vendemmia tardiva - Part 13
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Both ci mancherebbe and figurati/si figuri can also be appropriate responses when someone apologizes for something, using, for example, mi scusi (polite) or scusa (informal singular).
There are undoubtedly other ways to say "You're welcome" in Italian, but this list is a good start. Feel free to let us know if you hear others. We'll add them to this lesson. Thanks for reading!
When you know enough Italian to communicate with Italians, there is still something that might stump you. In the midst of a sentence in Italian, you might hear a word you don't recognize. Often, it is an English word being pronounced in a strange way, or maybe it's being used to mean something different from what it means in English. We're not prepared for it, either. We expect an Italian word! Let's look at a few of these words.
Il catering (the catering service, the caterers)
The usual Italianized version of this word is a noun: il catering. In English we're used to saying "the caterers" but in Italian, it's all about the catering service, shortened to "the catering", or rather il catering.
Se agiamo subito possiamo disdire, limitare i danni e pagare meno penali possibili. Il fioraio, il catering. -Perché?
If we act right away we can cancel, limit the damage, and pay as few penalties as possible. The florist, the caterers. -Why?
Captions 46-48, Sposami EP 4 - Part 10
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Nella mia vita mi ero occupata molto di rapporti educativi, mi ero occupata di sociale, e tra le varie occupazioni, io ho avuto anche per dieci anni un catering che avevo creato io.
In my life, I had been very involved with educational relationships, I had been involved in social work, and among the various occupations, I had also had a catering company for ten years, which I had created.
Captions 3-6, Benvenuti in Galera Bollate, Milano - Part 5
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If you listen to these 2 examples, you will hear the A in "catering" pronounced 2 different ways. In our first example, Nora uses the common Italian pronunciation. She pronounces the A like the a in padre. In the second example, the speaker, who has a completely different accent, uses the English pronunciation of the A, a "long" a, but she uses "catering" as a noun, as is common for Italians. We can surmise that she knows some English and therefore knows that A) catering is an English word, and B) that the A is pronounced with a long A (by English standards). In English we typically refer to "the caterers."
Fare footing (to go running or jogging)
For sure, the English word "jogging" can present challenges of pronunciation for Italians. The J is generally pronounced the same way the letter i is pronounced, and a g followed by an i is usually pronounced like a J. It's a nightmare. No wonder they found an easier way to describe the activity of moving one's feet along a road or path. Of course "footing" is a real word in English, but we use it to mean "a firm placing of one's feet."
Scusa, non hai sempre detto che sono patetici quelli che fanno footing a una certa età?
Excuse me, haven't you always said that pathetic are those who go running at a certain age?
Captions 38-39, Provaci ancora prof! S2E3 Dietro la porta - Part 1
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Since English is popular in Italian, "running" is used a lot in stores that sell sports equipment. "Footing" has probably gone out of style for young folks.
Un toast (a grilled cheese sandwich [of sorts]).
For Italians, un toast is a sandwich of pan carré (packaged square sliced bread, often with the crust removed). So it is toasted, hence the name, but it is also filled with a combination of prosciutto cotto (cooked ham), formaggio (cheese that melts), and sometimes also giardiniera (pickled vegetables). There may also be a mayonnaise-based sauce in there, too. It's the kind of snack you can get in many bars and is one of the cheaper things you can order and satisfy your appetite.
Perché ho pensato, allora, ci sarebbero le uova strapazzate con il bacon o i muffin oppure un buonissimo toast con prosciutto e formaggio...
Because I had thought, then, there would be scrambled eggs with bacon or muffins, or else a very good grilled cheese [sandwich] with ham...
Captions 23-25, JAMS EP 6 - Part 5
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Toast, as English speakers know it, is something else altogether and needs no explaining. If you want to talk about toast to an Italian, you'll call it pane tostato, and it might be made in il tostapane (the toaster).
Let us know if you think of other English words that have different meanings when spoken by an Italian. And thanks for reading!
Write to us at [email protected].
One stumbling block, when translating Italian into English, is when the third-person plural is used to mean "someone." If we look for the Italian translation of "someone," we find qualcuno. We can certainly use that but it's typical to hear someone say, for example, hanno suonato (someone rang [the doorbell]). The literal translation would be "they rang," but that does not work in English.
In our first example, Renzo, the architect is talking to his designers about opening up the space to let more light in. He is distracted and doesn't hear the doorbell. The designer uses the third-person plural instead of qualcuno ha suonato.
Dobbiamo aprire? -Sì, aprire. Aprire, aprire qui, aprire qui. -Dicevo la porta, hanno suonato. -E apri, che aspetti?
Should we open? -Yes, open. Open, open here, open here. -I was talking about the door, someone rang [the doorbell]. -So, open up, what are you waiting for?
Captions 60-63, Provaci ancora prof! S3EP1 - Due americane a Roma - Part 18
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And we will just add, for general information, that while in English, we usually say, "I'll get the door" or "I'll open the door," it is typical to omit the object la porta. We just use the verb aprire (to open) by itself.
Vai ad aprire (go open the door)
The third person plural is also used in place of the passive voice or the impersonale third-person singular. This happens when the agent is not known, not mentioned, or not important. In English, we often use the passive voice in these cases.
Adriano Olivetti has given a movie camera to his American friend and she is thanking him.
Ma Lei lo sa che questa cinepresa la usano nei reportage di guerra? -Ah sì? -Sì, perché può funzionare in qualsiasi condizione. -Me l'hanno consigliata.
But you know that this camera is used in war reporting? -Oh yes? -Yes, because it can function under any conditions. -They recommended it to me. [It was recommended to me].
Captions 18-20, Adriano Olivetti La forza di un sogno Ep.2 - Part 3
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Agent Bates could have used the passive with the verb venire:
Ma Lei lo sa che questa cinepresa viene usata nei reportage di guerra?
Or she could have used the impersonale:
Ma Lei lo sa che questa cinepresa si usa nei reportage di guerra?
Thanks for reading. If you come across verbs in the third-person plural that mean "someone" or are used in place of the passive voice or the impersonale, let us know and we'll add them to this lesson. Write to us at [email protected].
We're talking about the expression: sbarcare il lunario. At first glance, it isn't easy to figure out.
Let's begin our discussion with the noun la luna (the moon). That may help us guess that lunario has something to do with the moon. Originally the month was the interval between one new moon and the next (a sense gleaned from late Old English). The Italian word for "month" is mese from the Latin "mensis," which signified both "month" and "moon."
Il Lunario is well known in Italy as a kind of almanac, aimed at an agricultural readership, providing the phases of the moon of a given year and information about when to plant certain crops, when to cut one's hair to make it grow faster, according to the phases of the moon. Il lunario could be bought at any newsstand and likely still is. There are different editions of the Lunario, each appropriate to the region, since the planting seasons differ from area to area. A famous lunario in Florence is Il vero sesto Cajo Baccelli, named after a 16th-century astrologist. The almanac covers an entire year, month by month, and by extension, the phases of the moon. Loosely interpreted, il lunario is a period of time.
We need another piece of the puzzle to fully understand sbarcare il lunario. The verb sbarcare comes from the noun la barca (the boat). Sbarcare is what can be called "a parasynthetic verb," or un verbo parasintentico because it comes from a different part of speech (in this case, the noun la barca) and has a suffix or prefix (in this case, S) and becomes a verb, in this case, sbarcare.
These days, we use the verb sbarcare to mean the opposite of imbarcare (to board), in other words, to disembark or to go ashore. That implies you have reached the shore. In the context of the expression, you make it to the end of the year or month (and give a sigh of relief). You have made it.
That is certainly one interpretation of sbarcare, and the one found in dictionaries. But there is another interpretation, which took a bit of hunting. This interpretation first came up in a search for the expression sbarcare il lunario. The Accademia della Crusca answers questions, and apparently, plenty of people wanted to know about this expression. But then, Wiktionary also gave this alternate definition of sbarcare.
Sbarcare can also be used in its reflexive form: sbarcarsela, and as a pronominal verb, sbarcarla, to mean cavarsela (to manage, to get by), to overcome an obstacle or critical moment, to survive, more or less. Other similar expressions are:
tirare a campare (to take it one day at a time)
tirare avanti (to hobble along)
riuscire a campare a stento (to barely manage, with great effort, remaining poor)
tirare avanti la baracca or, more commonly mandare avanti la baracca — Here is the Italian explanation from Accademia della Crusca with an English translation following it, and connecting it to our expression:
...dove ‘baracca’ “ha il significato di famiglia, impresa, amministrazione mal organizzata, in cattive condizioni economiche. La baracca infatti è una costruzione provvisoria, di legno o metallo, per ricovero di persone, animali, materiale, ed anche, in senso spregiativo, una casupola, una casa malandata”, proprio come la vita di chi sbarca il lunario. (...where baracca (shack) has the meaning of poorly organized family, business, or administration, in poor economic conditions. In fact, the shack is a temporary construction, made of wood or metal, for sheltering people, animals, material, and also, in a derogatory sense, a shack, a run-down house," just like the life of those who have trouble making ends meet.)
In the expression sbarcare il lunario, the sense of sbarcare is this: trascorrere per lo più stentatamente e faticosamente, vivendo di espedienti, un periodo di tempo, l’esistenza stessa (to laboriously scrape through, living by expedients, a period of time, existence itself).
In English, we talk about living paycheck to paycheck. That's the idea.
For a more-in-depth explanation of sbarcare il lunario (in Italian), see this article from the Accademia della Crusca.
Finally, here is the clip from Provaci ancora, Prof. It's part of a news broadcast on TV that Renzo is listening to as he cooks dinner.
Il commissario Gaetano Berardi, che conduce l'inchiesta {è...} -Ehm... risalito a lui dopo un'attenta indagine tra un gruppo di aspiranti attori... -Ah. -che sbarcano il lunario vestiti da antichi Romani... -Ciao amore, dov'è papà?
Chief Gaetano Berardi, who is leading the investigation, has... -Um. traced it to him, after a careful investigation into a group of aspiring actors... -Ah. -who make ends meet dressed as ancient Romans... -Hello love, where's Dad?
Captions 3-6, Provaci ancora prof! S3EP1 - Due americane a Roma - Part 17
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Thanks for reading. Write to us at [email protected].
When we're talking about animals, we use the noun "paw," rather than "foot" for certain animals, such as dogs, cats, and bears. In Italian, this is la zampa. When used in its diminutive form, it's often figurative and can mean a couple of different things, depending on the surrounding words.
In our first example, we can interpret lo zampino to mean "the fingerprint." Imma's figurative fingerprints appear to be all over the hiring of her secretary, since they had been classmates at school.
Secondo me c'è il Suo zampino nell'assunzione della signora Sigillino in procura.
In my opinion, there's your pawprint in the hiring of Mrs. Sigillino in the prosecutor's office.
Captions 9-10, Imma Tataranni Sostituto procuratore S1 EP6 Dalla parte degli ultimi - Part 17
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Mettere lo zampino is an expression that means "to interfere." To have a hand in something.
The Italian description of a Luca Manara video is as follows:
Le indagini sono ormai cominciate e già c'è il sentore che ci sia lo zampino di qualcuno.
The investigation has begun by now, and there is already the inkling that someone has had a hand in it.
In this next example, we can interpret lasciare lo zampino to mean something like "leaving one's paw [caught] in a trap." Eva is dealing with her son who has gotten caught stealing a CD.
Non è che hai rubato pure te[tu]? -Io? Eh! Magari da giovane... -No, io no... però ho conosciuto un ragazzo che c'ha lasciato lo zampino.
It's not that you robbed as well? -Me? Yeah! Maybe when you were younger... -No, not me... but I knew a boy who left his little paw there (who got caught).
Captions 14-17, La Ladra EP. 1 - Le cose cambiano - Part 7
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The traditional saying is:
Tanto va la gatta al lardo che ci lascia lo zampino (the cat goes so often (or so far) into the lard that she leaves her paw in it).
In other words, "curiosity killed the cat."
Thanks for reading. Write to us at [email protected]
Benvenuti In Galera (welcome to prison) is a documentary about a restaurant. It's a special restaurant because it's inside a prison, and the first of its kind. In the first segment, various kinds of food are mentioned so we thought it would be helpful and/or interesting to discover something about the dishes being served.
At the beginning of the film, we see and hear the kitchen crew as they shout orders back and forth. There are some unusual dishes on the menu, and the server-inmates have to deal with some odd names. The customers, too, are curious about the dishes they are about to be served.
Alborelle in carpione
No no, è il carpione d'arborella [alborelle in carpione].
No, no, it's carpione d'arborella.
Caption 22, Benvenuti in Galera Bollate, Milano - Part 1
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Alborella or arborella (Alburnus arborella also called "bleak") is a European fresh-water fish in the carp family.
The dish is typical of the Piedmont and Lombard regions, with their many lakes and streams where fish in the carp family are prevalent. Since the In Galera restaurant is in Bollate on the outskirts of Milan, we can consider it a traditional local dish.
In carpione indicates a particular method, commonly used with carp, of conserving freshwater fish to to be consumed at a later time. It involves a marinade of sautéd onions and peppers seasoned with sage, bay leaves, and other aromatic herbs, with the addition of vinegar which then evaporates. The marinade is added to the fish after it has been cooked (fried). That's the main characteristic of in carpione (carp style). The marinade is also useful for masking the muddy taste carp can have since it feeds at the bottom of streams and lakes.
Here, you can find a recipe in Italian.
And here is a rough English translation:
Clean the fish, wash them, dry and flour them.
Fry them in plenty of oil, drain them and place them to dry on absorbent kitchen paper.
Prepare a mixture with the onion, peppers, garlic and capers.
Take a glass jar large enough to comfortably contain the fish and fill it halfway with extra virgin olive oil
Pour the oil measured in the jar into a large pan; add the anchovies cut into small pieces and the previously prepared chopped mixture, the bay leaf and the mustard.
Heat over very low heat for about 15 minutes, stirring continuously. The oil should not smoke or reach a high temperature.
Add the red vinegar in the proportion of 2 parts vinegar to 1 part oil.
Raise the heat, stirring well until the liquid boils is reduced by a third.
Fill the jar with the fish and cover them with the liquid.
Leave the jar uncovered for a few minutes to eliminate any air bubbles by topping up with the leftover liquid.
Close and store in a cool, dark place for five days before serving.
Salmerino confit.
Mi dici cos'è, Davide, per favore? Il Salmerino confit.
Will you tell me what it is, Davide, please? Confit of char.
Captions 28-29, Benvenuti in Galera Bollate, Milano - Part 1
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Salmerino
It's called Arctic Char in English and is part of the salmon family.
Confit (from the French verb confire (to preserve) is another way of conserving food. In this case, it's in oil, at a low temperature.
Scottadito
Un salmone e un polipo, seguono cinque risi, segue un maiale e uno scottadito.
A salmon and an octopus, followed by five rices, followed by a pork, and a grilled chop.
Captions 41-42, Benvenuti in Galera Bollate, Milano - Part 1
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Scottadito is a fun word. If we take it apart, we get scottare (to burn) and dito (finger). So we are talking about something hot, right off the grill, that someone could burn their fingers on. It implies being eaten right away. The term is traditionally used for abbacchio (suckling lamb chops) because you can hold them by the bone (burning your fingers). The mode of cooking is alla brace (referring to the embers) or ai ferri (referring to the iron grill).
Scottare can also mean "to parboil," "to scald."
Let us know in the comments of the video or write to us at [email protected] if you enjoyed reading background material connected to the video.
Let's look at an expression often used by Italians to mean "on the other hand," "besides," "then again," "after all," and more. If you learn this expression by listening and repeating it when appropriate, that's perfect. But just for fun, let's take it apart.
Come a Lei d'altronde, se no non faremmo questo mestiere.
As you do too, otherwise we wouldn't be doing this job.
Caption 29, Imma Tataranni Sostituto procuratore S1 EP6 Dalla parte degli ultimi - Part 15
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Questa è una battuta più da Rambo che da centurione, d'altronde vuoi fare l'attore.
This is more of a Rambo line than a centurion one, after all, you want to be an actor.
Captions 34-35, Provaci ancora prof! S3EP1 - Due americane a Roma - Part 15
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As mentioned at the beginning of this lesson, there are a few ways to translate this expression. The funny thing is, none of them reflect the individual words making up d'altronde.
on the other hand
after all
then again
for that matter
besides
otherwise
D'altronde
-We start out with a contraction: d' The non-contracted word would be the preposition di or da (of, from).
-Then we have the adjective altro meaning "other." This is also "contracted" with the word following it, but there is no apostrophe. It's likely that it was two words at the outset but later, it might have had an apostrophe — altr'onde — because of the o at the end of altro and the beginning of onde. Over time, it became one word, altronde. This is called univerbazione, when two words become one.
-Onde is interesting, too. It is a very archaic word meaning "hence" or "whence," or in other words, "from where," or da dove in Italian.
Onde is also part of a common expression you might hear, with archaic roots: onde evitare (in order to avoid). Of course, Italians just know the expression. They for sure do not think about where it comes from. Le onde is also the plural of l'onda (the wave).
Other expressions used to mean the same thing (or similar) as d'altronde:
d'altra parte (on the other hand, besides)
Perché, d'altra parte, per diventare un grande regista devi stare per strada.
Because, besides, in order to become a great director, you have to be on the street.
Caption 39, Volare - La grande storia di Domenico Modugno Ep. 1 - Part 7
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del resto (besides)
Del resto anche i fascisti, come i socialisti, dicono di marciare verso l'avvenire: perpetua e universale illusione.
Besides, the fascists as much as the socialists say they're marching towards the future. A perpetual and universal illusion.
Captions 8-9, Me Ne Frego Il Fascismo e la lingua italiana - Part 1
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in fondo (after all, in the end)
Ma neanche questa è, in fondo, una spiegazione totale.
But not even this, after all, is a total explanation.
Caption 17, La super storia Via Pasolini - Part 5
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Thanks for reading. We hope you get the idea and that you can begin using d'altronde in conversation. or at least understand it when you see or hear it.
In English, we have the noun "fruit." It's a collective or uncountable noun, so we rarely use an indefinite article or number before it. When we want to count fruit, we either refer to the fruit in question, for example, an apple or a peach, or we talk about "a piece of fruit."
Things are a little different in Italian. There is an analogous noun to "the fruit," la frutta, which is collective and uncountable.
Io mi ricordo che a casa mia si mangiava, allora, il, a mezzogiorno si mangiava: il primo, la carne, il contorno e la frutta, e la sera si mangiava la minestra.
I remember that at my house we'd eat, then, the, at noon we'd eat: the first course, meat, vegetable [side dish] and fruit, and the evening we'd eat some soup.
Captions 33-36, L'arte della cucina La Prima Identitá - Part 14
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When we want to talk about "fruits and vegetables," we say la frutta e la verdura. We're talking about two categories of plant food. Note that we use the singular in Italian. Sometimes an article is used, but not always.
Ci troviamo al piano inferiore, al piano terra del Mercato Centrale di Firenze. Qui, di solito, tutti i giorni si vendono frutta e verdura e anche altre cose.
We're on the lower level, on the ground floor of the Central Market of Florence. Here, usually, every day, fruits and vegetables are sold, along with other things, too.
Captions 26-28, In giro per l'Italia Firenze - Part 2
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Just as in English we can say "some fruit," in Italian we use un articolo partitivo (a partitive article) which combines a preposition and an article to mean "an indefinite quantity of something." In the example, la frutta is a feminine noun, so we use della.
"Della": devo comprare della frutta.
"Della": I have to buy some fruit.
Caption 18, Marika spiega Articoli partitivi - Part 2
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For more about partitive articles, see Marika's video lessons.
When we do want to talk about a piece of fruit in Italian, we turn to another noun, il frutto. It also means "the fruit," but this time it's countable and refers to one exemplar or specimen. Here, we can also use an indefinite article, or a number. We can form the plural.
Per capire se l'anguria è pronta da gustare, basta bussare sulla buccia. Un suono cupo e basso è il segnale che il frutto è maturo.
To figure out if the watermelon is ready to eat, just knock on the rind. A dull, low sound is the signal that the fruit is ripe.
Captions 5-8, Pomodori Vulcanici Pomodori del Vesuvio - Part 3
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In the previous example, a particular watermelon exemplar has been singled out, so il frutto makes sense. In the following example, the kind of fruit is not mentioned. It could be any fruit, such as una mela (an apple), una pesca (a peach), una pera (a pear), or un'albicocca (an apricot).
"Le guardie sono cadute a terra", scrive Roberto Longhi, come quattro spicchi di un frutto tagliato di netto e sono sprofondate in un sonno pesante".
"The guards fell to the ground," writes Roberto Longhi, like four wedges of a cleanly cut piece of fruit, and sank into a heavy sleep."
Captions 7-9, La pittura più bella del mondo La Resurrezione di Piero della Francesca - Part 10
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While the plural of frutta doesn't exist, we can use the plural of frutto, in other words, frutti.
E poi perché le olive vengono più piccole, le piante tendono, quando si inselvatichiscono, a fare i frutti molto più piccoli.
And also because the olives come out smaller. Plants tend, when they become wild, to produce much smaller fruit.
Captions 16-18, Gianni si racconta L'olivo e i rovi
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Frutto is also used figuratively to mean "result," just as in English.
È il frutto di una generazione artistica geniale e audace.
It is the result of a brilliant and daring artistic generation.
Caption 14, Meraviglie S2 EP3 - Part 1
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It's often employed with no article at all.
...perché tutto quello che vedete è frutto di un lavoro lentissimo.
...because everything you see is the result of a very slow process.
Caption 18, Meraviglie S2EP1 - Part 8
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Note: Frutta is not used figuratively in the same sense as frutto, and would not be appropriate here.
In a future lesson, we'll talk about different kinds of fruit and their peculiarities.
A subscriber asked: "What's the difference between tra and fra? The simple answer is "no difference." They both mean "between," "among," "in," (when talking about time), and more.
But they do sound different at the beginning with two different consonants, and to make a sentence flow better, Italians will choose one over the other, instinctively. If the noun following tra or fra starts with T or F, Italians will instinctively avoid weighing down the sentence with too many F's or too many T's. Or it might just be a personal preference that determines which version someone will use in a given situation. Let's look at some examples from Yabla videos to see if there are any patterns in choosing fra over tra and vice versa.
Our first example is from a video about prepositions, including tra and fra.
Compagnia: "Mi piacerebbe organizzare una cena tra amici".
Company: "I'd like to plan a dinner among friends."
Caption 37, Marika spiega Preposizioni semplici - Part 3
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Tra l'altro, da quello che si sa, tra poco qui arriveranno le forze dell'ordine
By the way, from what we know, the police will be arriving here in a little while,
Caption 23, Liberi tutti EP 5 Cosa c'è sotto? - Part 6
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Tra l'altro is a turn of phrase people use a lot to resume a conversation or to add some information. It can mean "by the way," or "besides," and more literally means, "among other things." In the same sentence, the speaker uses tra poco to mean "in a short while." Both tra and fra combine with adverbs to mean "in" in terms of time:
Io fra cinque minuti torno.
I'll be back in five minutes.
Caption 35, Imma Tataranni Sostituto procuratore S1 EP6 Dalla parte degli ultimi - Part 5
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While tra and fra mean the same thing, one might sound better than the other depending on the words following the preposition. In the following example, fra is preferred because the noun following it begins with t. Tra would sound "bad" coming before another word starting with t.
Ecco, prof, io fra tutti ho scelto "L'amico ritrovato" di Uhlman.
OK, professor, out of all of them, I have chosen Uhlman's "The newfound friend" [EN title: "Reunion"]
Caption 1, Provaci ancora prof! S2E4 L'amica americana - Part 7
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Fun Fact:
In the TV series "Imma Tataranni sostituto procuratore," the title of one episode is Come piante fra i sassi (like plants between the rocks). But the title of the book that the show is based on is Come piante tra i sassi (like plants between the rocks). In other words, one uses fra and one uses tra.
Communication is the most important aspect of speaking a language, so don't worry about getting this "wrong." Nobody will fault you if you choose fra over tra (or vice versa). But you might have fun doing a search of both words (on the videos page) to see how the characters in Yabla videos handle this essential preposition in either of its spellings and pronunciations. It's something to put in your stylistic toolbox if you want to refine your language fluency. When you listen to native Italians speak, pay attention to how they use tra and fra.
There are certain moments in life, and January is often one of them, when we reassess things, we try something new, or we turn over a new leaf. Did you ever wonder if there is an equivalent expression in Italian for turning over a new leaf? There is! It's voltare pagina (to turn the page). It's not exact, but it's close. Turning over a new leaf looks to the future with the adjective "new," and it implies getting a fresh start, whereas voltare pagina might imply leaving the past in the past. It can mean "to move on." It all depends on the context. Turning over a new leaf is usually applicable to one individual, whereas voltare pagina can be general or specific.
When you turn over a new leaf, it's like turning the page. Back in the day, at school, we would use loose-leaf notebooks, also called "ring binders." In Italian, these are called either raccoglitori ad anelli or quaderni ad anelli. So "leaf" is another word for "page" (or more precisely, "sheet of paper or parchment"), even though when we hear, say, or read the word "leaf," we usually think of a tree or plant with leaves. In Italian, a leaf is una foglia.
Fun fact: 2 Italian nouns, la foglia (the botanical leaf) and il foglio (page, leaf, sheet of paper including back and front) come from the same Latin word "folium," meaning "leaf" or "sheet of paper."
Il mese di gennaio è un buon momento per voltare pagina.
(The month of January is a good opportunity for turning over a new leaf.)
Il passato non torna, Albe'. Dobbiamo voltare pagina.
The past doesn't come back, Albe'. We have to turn the page.
Captions 4-5, Non è mai troppo tardi EP1 - Part 5
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Sì, lo so che non me ne dovrebbe fregare più niente, che... che dovrei andare avanti, ma, ma... non ci riesco.
Yes, I know I shouldn't give a damn anymore, that... that I should move on, but, but... I can't.
Captions 8-9, Sposami EP 3 - Part 20
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In the previous example, the speaker could have said:
Sì, lo so che non me ne dovrebbe fregare più niente, che... che dovrei voltare pagina, ma, ma... non ci riesco.
Yes, I know I shouldn't give a damn anymore, that... that I should move on, but, but... I can't.
For more about the verb voltare (to turn) and its origins, and about other related words and topics, see this lesson, especially the section titled:
"When manuscripts had leaves, not pages."
Here are two examples contrasting foglia and foglio.
Allora qua abbiamo un pittore, come vedete, che disegna foglie secche e frutta marcia.
So here we have a painter, as you see, who designs dry leaves and rotten fruit.
Captions 40-41, Caravaggio EP1 - Part 6
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Se vuoi fare contento un bambino, dagli un foglio bianco e una matita colorata.
If you want to make a child happy, give him a white sheet of paper and a colored pencil.
Captions 7-8, Questione di Karma Rai Cinema - Part 1
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Have a little fun with words that have different meanings depending on whether they end in a or o.
Thanks for reading! You can write to us at [email protected].
Sorting out the parts of speech in a new language can be tricky. You don't necessarily need to be able to memorize what part of speech a given word is, but it's handy to be able to figure it out. Native speakers just know, but learners need some cues sometimes. We're going to discuss the word fidanzato/a because it crops up as a past participle, adjective, or noun, and it can be challenging to figure out which it is. We'll try to make some sense out of it.
We have talked about the fine line between adjectives and nouns in another lesson, but it's a topic that comes up frequently, so we'll explore it again from another angle.
The caption that sparked this discussion is from the popular crime drama Imma Tataranni. Imma, the deputy prosecutor, is interviewing the parents of a girl who had been murdered.
Era fidanzata?
Did she have a boyfriend?
[Was she engaged/attached?]
Caption 17, Imma Tataranni Sostituto procuratore S1 EP 4 Maltempo - Part 4
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Our translation caused some confusion because it's neither parallel nor word-for-word. But it opened up a discussion about adjectives and nouns, and how to tell the difference. It also opened up a discussion about what words to use when referring to relationships. But we'll talk about that in another lesson. Let's look at what questions to ask to find out whether a word is a past participle, adjective, or noun.
The word fidanzata ends in a so it is likely feminine. The masculine would be fidanzato. Adjective or noun? There is no article in this example, so the best guess is "adjective." If it were a noun (something that is possible), it would likely have an article and possibly an adjective or possessive adjective before it.
Ci vorrebbe una bella fidanzata.
You need a nice girlfriend.
Caption 75, Volare - La grande storia di Domenico Modugno Ep. 2 - Part 17
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Eh, c'ho Giampi, ma è un fidanzato, non è un amico.
Uh, I have Giampi, but he's a boyfriend, not a friend.
Caption 45, Sposami EP 2 - Part 17
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And we can look at the verb. Italian's two main verbs, essere (to be) and avere (to have) are used as auxiliaries, but not exclusively. Avere is also a transitive verb meaning "to have," where as essere is not. Here is an example from another crime-show interview about a murder. This time the detective used the verb avere (to have), which makes things much simpler. We assume from the context that it's about a guy, but it could also be "Did she have a girlfriend?".
Aveva una fidanzata?
Did he have a girlfriend?
Caption 45, I Bastardi di Pizzofalcone S1EP4 Gelo - Part 7
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But here, we see the verb essere (and no article) so we can tell that fidanzata is an adjective.
Io vado, ciao. -Allora, questa amica mia è fidanzata da otto anni
I'm going, bye. -So this friend of mine, she's been engaged for eight years
Captions 75-76, Stai lontana da me Rai Cinema - Part 2
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Here, too, there is no article.
Devo dirti una cosa, Teresa. -Dimmi. -Io sono fidanzato, Teresa.
I have to tell you something, Teresa. -Tell me. -I'm engaged, Teresa.
Captions 42-44, Adriano Olivetti La forza di un sogno Ep. 1 - Part 19
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Here's how it works in the plural.
Per un po' siamo anche stati fidanzati.
We were also boyfriend and girlfriend for a while.
For a while, we were even engaged.
Caption 10, La Ladra EP. 11 - Un esame importante - Part 2
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When we talk about the process of getting engaged, then fidanzata/o is no longer an adjective. It's the past participle of the verb fidanzare (to get engaged). We use the reflexive particle si (oneself) and the auxiliary verb essere (to be).
Mi sono fidanzata. Evviva! -Che bello, la nonna si è fidanzata!
I got engaged. Yay! -How nice that Grandma has gotten [herself] engaged!
Captions 30-31, Provaci ancora prof! S2E5 Vita da cani - Part 17
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We hope we've cleared up some doubts about fidanzato/a and given you some tips for determining whether a word is a past participle, adjective, or noun.
In this lesson, we're going to talk about an adjective and a noun stemming from the common verb portare. Portare comes from the Latin "portāre," meaning "to carry" or "to bear" (as does the Italian verb portare). It originally referred (and still does refer) to physically carrying or bearing objects or people. One of the 2 words came up in a Yabla video, so it seemed like a good opportunity to shine a light.
Logically, the past participle portato is used in the past tense to mean "carried" or "brought." For example:
Infatti ho portato i soldi.
In fact, I brought the money.
Caption 66, Provaci ancora prof! S2E6 La strana ossessione - Part 20
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Portare takes avere as an auxiliary, a cue telling us portato is a past participle, not an adjective. It's not unusual for past participle forms of verbs to become adjectives or nouns. They are usually related in basic meaning. But in the case of portato, the meaning strayed a bit from the original one. It took on a more figurative sense. "Carrying something" was extended to mean "having an inherent tendency or suitability for something," as if the trait were "carried" within a person. Portato began to describe someone with a natural inclination toward a specific activity or field. We can imagine someone "carrying" a predisposition or "bearing" a natural gift, to go back to the meaning of portare.
In a previous lesson, we talked about being talented or not, using dotato or negato. Portato fits in as a synonym for dotato (gifted) with a slightly different vibe. Dotato might be thought of in terms of being a gift from God or some higher power, and portato, in terms of coming from within, an innate predisposition. But they are often used interchangeably.
In the following example from an Italian TV series about the Milan music conservatory, a violin student has been yelling over some drum riffs in order to hide the sound of his letting off steam. His friend compliments him on his yelling.
E bravo, sei portato.
And well done, you're a natural.
Caption 52, La compagnia del cigno EP 2 - Part 8
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If I say: Sei portato per la musica, I am saying, "You are gifted." "You're a natural." We might use it to describe someone good at learning languages, good at fixing cars, good at cooking, etc.
Invece ha detto che nostra figlia è molto portata per la danza.
But she said our daughter is very gifted in dance.
Caption 25, Provaci ancora prof! S2EP1 - La finestra sulla scuola - Part 9
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Per cosa si sente portata?
What do you feel you're good at?
What's your strong suit?
Caption 28, Adriano Olivetti La forza di un sogno Ep. 1 - Part 11
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Let's remember that, as adjectives, portato, portata, portati and portate have to agree in gender and number with the noun they modify.
The feminine past participle of portare evolved into the noun portata, whose core meaning relates to "that which is carried" or "the act of carrying." You might be familiar with the noun una portata in the context of courses of a meal, brought or carried to the table.
La portata evolved into meaning "the extent" or "the range," referring to the span or scope something can reach, carry, or bear, such as physical reach or figurative impact.
Sono pienamente d'accordo sulla portata metaforica del Suo discorso,
I am in full agreement about the metaphorical impact/magnitude of what you are saying,
Caption 14, Volare - La grande storia di Domenico Modugno Ep. 1 - Part 23
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Finally, we have the expression a portata di mano (literally, "within reach of one's hand"). We can shorten it to "within reach."
In inverno consiglio sempre di tenere a portata di mano un ombrello.
In winter I always recommend keeping an umbrella handy.
Caption 22, Adriano Le stagioni dell'anno
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As we see, it can mean "handy," but it can also mean "at hand," or "close at hand" in a figurative sense.
Sarebbe atroce morire proprio ora che la salvezza è a portata di mano.
It would be awful to die right now when salvation is at hand/within reach.
Captions 57-58, Vivere Un'avventura di Vittorio De Sica - Part 1
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We hope you will now know what people mean when they say someone is portato or portata, and if they ask you Hai carta e penna a portata di mano? you will know they're asking if you have paper and pen handy to write something down.
In this lesson, we're going to talk about two verbs that have to do with getting from one place to another, at least in their simple, literal meaning. Arrivare is the verb whose meaning we can guess most easily, since it has an English cognate, "to arrive."
We also might recognize the noun form in its plural: gli arrivi. We see this on signs at train stations and airports and can guess it means "arrivals." The opposite is partenze (departures).
Ah, il mio volo arriva un'ora dopo il tuo. Aspettami agli arrivi, eh.
Ah, my flight arrives one hour later than yours. Wait for me at "arrivals," huh.
Captions 60-61, Sei mai stata sulla Luna? film - Part 2
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While the basic meaning of arriving somewhere is pretty clear, Italians also use the verb arrivare in a slightly different way, which is good to know about. It's used in the present tense to mean one's arrival is imminent. In English, we use the future tense: "I'll/we'll be right there."
Sì, arriviamo. Arrivo. Arrivo.
Yes, we'll be right there. I'll be right there. I'm coming.
Captions 28-29, Il Commissario Manara S2EP8 - Fuori servizio - Part 1
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Used in the present progressive or continuous, it means "I'm on my way."
Sto arrivando, apparecchia per due.
I'm on my way, set the table for two.
Caption 62, Il Commissario Manara S2EP3 - Delitto tra le lenzuola - Part 11
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This can be frustrating for the person waiting because it is very vague, sometimes purposely so. Sometimes the person hasn't left yet. It would be clearer to say:
Sto partendo (I'm leaving).
Arrivo tra una mezz'ora (I'll arrive in a half an hour).
Giungere has to do with completion. It comes from a Latin word meaning "to unite." An attentive reader might think of the English words, "junction," "conjunction," and even "to join." In fact, the Italian verb congiungere means "to join," or "to connect."
"Vedere la luce" vuol dire nascere e, in senso figurativo, significa giungere a compimento di qualcosa.
"To see the light [of day]" means being born and, in a figurative sense, it means reaching the completion of something.
Captions 81-82, Marika spiega Il verbo vedere - Part 1
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È giunto il momento di lasciare questo luogo, un luogo meraviglioso.
The time has come to leave this place, a wonderful place.
Captions 1-2, Meraviglie EP. 5 - Part 11
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In the previous two examples, the verb arrivare could have been used, but giungere is more archaic and more formal, as well as being more specific in referring to a destination or goal.
On the other hand, we also have the verb raggiungere, which is used very often to mean "to join," "to catch up with," "to reach." It's transitive, therefore taking a direct object, whereas giungere needs the preposition a (to).
Non è facile raggiungere Borgo Sansepolcro.
It is not easy to reach Borgo Sansepolcro.
Caption 4, La pittura più bella del mondo La Resurrezione di Piero della Francesca - Part 1
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Sì, tu vai. Io ti raggiungo tra una mezz'ora.
Yes. You go. I'll join you in a half an hour.
Caption 40, Questione di Karma Rai Cinema - Part 12
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When raggiungere means "to join," it is usually directed towards a person as in the previous example. Join can't always be translated as raggiungere.
If you want to talk about catching up with someone, raggiungere can work.
Vai avanti tu, che io ti raggiungo.
You go on ahead, I'll catch up with you.
Caption 31, Ma che ci faccio qui! Un film di Francesco Amato - Part 8
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If you do a search of raggiungere (or any of its conjugations), you will find plenty of examples on the videos page. It is a verb you will want in your toolbox.
We talked about quanto in another lesson, as part of the expression E questo è quanto. But there's more to say about this useful word. It's not all about asking how much something costs at the market. We use quanto in comparisons, and in particular, balanced comparisons.
In this case, quanto, and tanto are paired to compare equal quantities or qualities of things — similar to how we use "as - as" in English.
"Tanto è bravo Gaetano, quanto è pigra Luisa".
"Luisa is as lazy as Gaetano is a hard worker." "Gaetano is as good as Luisa is lazy."
Caption 47, Corso di italiano con Daniela 5) Proposizioni subordinate comparative - Part 1
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Here are some more examples from Yabla videos, from everyday speech.
Lei quindi non è un cacciatore? Per carità. Detesto tanto la pratica quanto la categoria.
So you aren't a hunter? For the love of God. I hate the practice as much as the category.
Captions 24-26, Il Commissario Manara S2EP11 - Uno strano incidente di caccia - Part 4
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This pair of adjectives can be used in the negative sense too, as in this example discussing the history of the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
Il problema non era tanto il peso del marmo, quanto il terreno.
The problem was not so much the weight of the marble, as it was the terrain.
Caption 5, Meraviglie EP. 4 - Part 8
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We'll go into how to construct comparisons with tanto/quanto to make balanced comparisons in a future lesson.
While we are on the subject of quanto, there is another way we use it in Italian that needs a bit of explaining. In quanto means "inasmuch," "since," "because," or simply "as."
No, dico per, per la cosa delle detrazioni fiscali, perché noi, in quanto associazione, possiamo... -Detrarre.
No, I'm saying for, for tax deductions, because we, as an association, we can... -Deduct.
No, I'm saying for, for tax deductions, because we, since we're an association, we can... -Deduct.
Captions 25-27, Liberi tutti EP4 Ma la giacca la vuole tutta? - Part 2
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In quanto is used when talking about roles, for example: In my role as a teacher, I have to set a good example. In quanto insegnante, devo essere un buon esempio.
Have you seen or heard other uses of quanto we haven't discussed? Let us know at [email protected].
People have different ways of concluding a discussion or discourse. In English, we sometimes say, "And that's it," or, "And that's about it," or "That's all there is to it." In Italian, there are various ways to begin or conclude a conversation, but one way to end a conversation where you have shared information is: E questo è quanto.
It has a certain symmetry; There is the e that means "and," and an è that means "is." Then, we have two words with the same number of letters, beginning with qu and ending with o. Italians like these kinds of word pairs.
Noi abbiamo libri di tutti i tipi, tutti i tipi di letteratura, di, di filosofia, di generi, di, di storia, ma siamo molto specializzati su quello che riguarda la storia di Venezia e romanzi che raccontano la città. E questo è quanto, insomma.
We have books of all kinds, all kinds of literature, on, on philosophy, of all kinds, about, about history, but we are very specialized in what concerns the history of Venice and novels that tell about the city. And that's it, in short.
Captions 27-31, In giro per l'Italia Venezia - Part 2
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In the following example, a police team has been discussing how a victim was murdered, and after listing the available information, the coroner says this to conclude:
E questo è quanto.
And that's all we have.
Caption 19, I Bastardi di Pizzofalcone S1EP5 Misericordia - Part 8
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So, depending on the context, the meaning can be just conclusive, or it can mean to say, I've told you everything there is to tell.
The word questo means "this" or "that," so that is pretty clear. But let's dig a little deeper into the word quanto. It has a number of nuances, and can function as an adjective, adverb, or pronoun. In the expression, e questo è quanto, quanto is a pronoun representing "as much as there is." Check out the dictionary to see more about quanto.
We typically use quanto when we want to know how much something costs.
Quanto costa il giubbino? -Trentacinque.
How much does the jacket cost? -Thirty-five.
Caption 19, Serena in un negozio di abbigliamento - Part 2
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We can use it as an adjective to say "how much":
Quanta pasta devo buttare (how much pasta should I throw in [the pot])?
When quanto is used as an adjective, it has to agree with the noun it's modifying, in this case, la pasta.
If the noun is in the plural, quanto also has to have a plural ending and agree with the gender of the noun. In the next example, it modifies anni, the plural of the masculine noun anno (year).
Quanti anni sono che studi?
How many years have you been studying?
Caption 46, La compagnia del cigno EP1 - Part 5
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In the following example, Marika and Anna are talking about recipes. Sometimes a recipe says, when indicating the quantity of something, "Q.b." What does that mean?
Il sale quanto? Q.b. Q. b. -Q.b. Vuol dire quanto basta.
How much salt? Q B. Q B. -Q B. It means "quanto basta" [as needed, to taste].
Captions 33-36, L'Italia a tavola Timballo di cicoria - Part 1
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We also use quanto when commenting on something, either bad or good. It can mean "so." When used as an adverb, as in our final example, its ending doesn't change. In the example, quanto has been truncated, but it's short for quanto è bella.
Ma questa non è la macchina che ci è passata avanti l'altro giorno? -Ma quant'è bella.
But isn't this the car that passed us the other day? -It's so beautiful [how beautiful it is].
Captions 23-25, Imma Tataranni Sostituto procuratore S1 EP5 Rione Serra Venerdì - Part 9
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We have covered the expression e questo è quanto, but there is more to say. Stay tuned for another lesson where we delve even deeper into quanto.
In transcribing a recent video, there was one particular word that gave us trouble. When a native speaker finally figured it out, it opened up an entire world of connections. And it brought up the subject of pamphlets, leaflets, brochures, paperbacks, and bookbinding. This lesson will look at the words Italians use to refer to these kinds of publications. We'll also get a closer look at some related words that emerged from our research, as well as a diminutive suffix that hasn't come up before.
Here is the passage that gave us trouble. It's from a video about publishing comic books. The speaker had apparently turned brossura into the adjective/past participle brossulato, likely an informal term employed within the world of commercial publishing.
Rimettendo insieme questi albetti albo d'oro, tre, quattro per volta, si veniva a creare un, eh... una, un, un volume in qualche modo brossulato [sic: rilegato in brossura], dello spessore degli attuali Tex.
Putting these golden albums back together, three, four at a time, it would become a, uh... a, a kind of paperback bound volume, of the same thickness as the current Tex.
Captions 77-80, Fumettology TEX - Part 8
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Once the mystery was solved, there was a second mystery: Why a particular kind of binding (on a book) was called brossura.
Wikipedia provided some information: In traditional bookbinding, especially for hardbound books, sewing is involved, as well as folded paper that then needs separating. But for paperbacks, especially cheap ones, another method is used whereby the edges of the pages are glued to a piece of tape. How many times have you had pages fall out of a paperback if you opened it too wide? So the term brossura has to do with la rilegatura (bookbinding) and is basically used to indicate a paperback book. Wikipedia provided the clue that brossura is from the French "brocher," to pin, to sew. Of course! Brochure! This originally French word is used in both English and Italian.
Guardi, questa è la brochure del nostro atelier.
Look, this is the brochure from our studio.
Caption 41, Sposami EP 2 - Part 5
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The French word brochette also sprang to mind, which is "skewer," the utensil or the result: kebab, or in Italian, lo spiedino. But not only that! We also have "brooch" (sometimes "broach") in English, which is a large pin you wear on a jacket. Una spilla in Italian.
Another word for brochure is depliant or dépliant: Of course, it, too, is a French word adopted into Italian usage. The Italian translation is pieghevole, also used to mean "brochure."
Sì, sta nel dépliant del museo, sta di là.
Yes, it's in the museum brochure, it's over there.
Caption 20, Il Commissario Manara S1EP5 - Il Raggio Verde - Part 3
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Yet another word is opuscolo. We have no examples from Yabla videos, but it's quite common. It comes from "opus" (work) and is a diminutive. Where have we heard this diminutive before? Il brutto anatroccolo(the ugly duckling). The diminutive -olo is used with masculine nouns and denotes small size or petty nature.
We also have volantino (flyer). The word comes from the verb volare (to fly). It can fly, in the sense of distribution. A flyer can also be a sheet inserted into a magazine between the pages (not bound). You can take it out.
Controlla bene le offerte elencate nel volantino che trovi all'ingresso del supermercato o quello che ti hanno messo nella cassetta della posta.
Carefully check the offers listed in the flyer that you find at the entrance to the supermarket or the one they have put in your mailbox.
Captions 8-10, Vocaboliamo Supermercato - Part 3
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The job of distributing these flyers is volantinaggio.
Then there's la locandina. This is usually one sheet describing a show or movie. It can also mean "poster." But where does locandina come from? Clearly, it's a diminutive of locanda. A locanda is a place that rents rooms.
Era una locanda.
It was a small inn.
Caption 59, Anna e Marika Trattoria Al Biondo Tevere - Part 1
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But what's the connection with locandina? It so happens there is a little-used verb locare (to let, to lease, to rent out). The verb comes in turn from Latin, where "est locanda" means è da affittare (it's for rent). The locandina was the announcement posted on a bulletin board or wall for renting out a space. It morphed into the small-sized poster for a movie or show. Although the verb locare is not one you will hear very often, if you ever rent an apartment in Italy, it will say Contratto di locazione (rental contract).
We've given you a potpourri of connected terms. But now when you see these words, hopefully, you'll know what they mean and where they come from.
We often want to comment on another person, animal, or object regarding their appearance (or demeanor), either someone we are talking to or someone we are talking about. One word we can use for this is sembrare "to seem." It can be used by itself:
'Sti [questi] baffetti quando ti sono usciti? Sembri un uomo, eh?
When did you grow this moustache? You look like a man, huh?
Captions 46-47, Non è mai troppo tardi EP 2 - Part 3
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Although sembrare (to seem) can be used by itself, it's often personalized with an indirect object pronoun such as mi (to me), ti (to you), ci (to us), etc.
Mi sembri nervoso (you seem irritable to me).
Tu sei perfettamente vestito per questo posto e mi sembri molto a tuo agio.
You are dressed perfectly for this place, and you seem very at ease to me.
Captions 67-68, Romanzo Italiano Lazio - Part 10
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But it's also common to use the verb vedere (to see), thus shifting the focus to the speaker.
Mamma mia, come vi vedo nervosi.
My goodness, how nervous you seem.
My goodness, how nervous I see you [as being].
Caption 24, Liberi tutti EP 5 Cosa c'è sotto? - Part 3
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Però... io ti vedo strana.
But... you seem strange (you're acting weird).
Caption 12, JAMS S1 EP 5 - Part 4
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Using vedere can be connected with "looking." In English, we keep the focus on the person we're describing ("you"). In Italian, the grammatical focus is on the person commenting.
Ti vedo bene, Giorgio.
You look good, Giorgio.
Caption 2, I Bastardi di Pizzofalcone S1EP2 Rabbia - Part 20
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Let's look at some questions using these same formulas.
Che c'è, ti sembro troppo disinvolta forse?
What, do I seem too flippant to you perhaps?
Caption 36, La compagnia del cigno EP 2 - Part 6
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Sara (the speaker) could have said,
Che c'è, mi vedi troppo disinvolta forse?
What, do you see me as too flippant, perhaps?
Dite la verità, come vi sembro?
Tell me the truth, how do I look (to you)?
Caption 40, I Bastardi di Pizzofalcone S1EP1 I Bastardi - Part 16
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She could have said:
Dite la verità, come mi vedete?
Tell me the truth, how do I look (to you) [how do you see me]?
The way you want to comment will vary according to context and personal preference. But now you can choose! For more about sembrare, see this lesson.
What words and expressions can we use in Italian to talk about getting along with other people, or not getting along? There are plenty of ways, some more mainstream, and others more colloquial or even vulgar, especially when it's about not getting along.
First of all, let's mention the classic term simpatico, which is tough to translate accurately (see this lesson). Although simpatico is not strictly connected with getting along, it is often a factor.
Someone can be simpatico, meaning they are friendly, easy to get along with, nice, likeable. None of these descriptions alone is enough to express the idea of simpatico. But simpatico has become a word that many English speakers understand. We can use simpatico as an adjective to describe a person:
Nick è uno simpatico, un po' fuori di testa.
Nick is a nice guy, a bit crazy.
Captions 56-57, I Bastardi di Pizzofalcone S1EP4 Gelo - Part 10
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But we can personalize it a bit by using the verb stare instead of essere and adding a personal pronoun. This is one way of getting around the fact that "to like" is transitive in English but not in Italian. We've mentioned in another lesson that mi piace can have various connotations, but stare simpatico is more generic and "safe."
Anche se la conoscevo poco, mi stava simpatica. -Certo.
Even if I didn't know her well, I liked her. -Of course.
Caption 10, I Bastardi di Pizzofalcone S1EP1 I Bastardi - Part 14
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The opposite of simpatico is antipatico. But while we can use antipatico to describe a person, we also use it to describe something unpleasant like a medical procedure. It often means "unpleasant" in this context. In the following example, "unfriendly" was the translation but it could also have been "unpleasant," "not nice." Sometimes we might use "nasty," but that is a strong word.
È severo e pure un po' antipatico.
He is stern and also a bit unfriendly.
Caption 41, Provaci ancora prof! S1E4 - La mia compagna di banco - Part 4
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In terms of getting along, the classic phrasal verb is andare d'accordo (literally, "to go in agreement").
Non mi avevi detto che andavate d'accordo? -Sì, andiamo d'accordo.
Didn't you tell me you got along great? -Yes, we get along.
Captions 77-78, Questione di Karma Rai Cinema - Part 15
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Sai quanto tuo marito mi sta antipatico, e questo lo abbiamo capito fra le righe, però andare d'accordo con te non è che è facile, eh.
You know how much I don't like your husband, and this we have figured out, reading between the lines, but getting along with you isn't easy, huh.
Captions 5-8, Un medico in famiglia Stagione 1 EP3 Un cugino in fuga - Part 14
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Another way to express "getting along" in a very positive way, is with stare bene. Stare bene can mean "to feel good," "to be comfortable," or "to be in good health." Stare insieme is used when two people are in a couple. Stanno insieme (they are together, they're a couple).
Stiamo bene insieme.
We get along well together/we go well together.
Caption 29, Sposami EP 5 - Part 23
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Sometimes you can get along with someone you don't like, but sometimes people are mean. In Italian, we use vedere (to see) instead of "to stand," when you can't stand someone.
Per esempio: "Nicoletta è sempre antipatica con me". E in effetti, anche io non la posso vedere.
For example: "Nicoletta is always nasty to me." And, actually, I can't stand her either.
Captions 41-42, Marika spiega Il verbo vedere - Part 2
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Sometimes we don't get along with someone because one of us is a pain in the butt. The socially acceptable way to describe this type of person is un rompiscatole. See this lesson for a closer look.
Problemi? -No, niente, è solo 'sta [questa] rompiscatole.
Problems? -No, nothing. It's just this pain in the ass.
Caption 91, Provaci ancora prof! S1E3 - Una piccola bestia ferita - Part 1
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Now we get to more vulgar terms. Replacing rompiscatole with rompipalle or rompiballe (literally "ballbreaker," pain in the ass) is more vulgar. We again use stare (to be, to stay) together with a word for male genitalia or some euphemism. We are describing someone who can't stand someone else. The next example is quite vulgar, although used a lot, except in polite company.
Magari gli stavo sul cazzo.
Maybe to him I was a pain in the ass.
Caption 67, I Bastardi di Pizzofalcone S1EP1 I Bastardi - Part 9
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To make this more socially acceptable, it could be:
Magari gli stavo sulle scatole.
Mi ha accollato agli altri a forza e il risultato finale è che sono appena arrivato e sto già sul cazzo a tutti.
He forced me on the others and the end result is that I only just arrived and I'm already pissing everyone off.
Captions 31-32, La compagnia del cigno EP 2 - Part 3
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We might have translated this another way, too:
Sto già sul cazzo a tutti.
Everyone already hates me/can't stand me/I am already hated by everyone.
Although the word order is different from what we say in English, the idea is that someone is hated by someone else.
Thanks for reading. Please write to us if you have questions or comments about this topic: [email protected]
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