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“Nato con la camicia”, born with the shirt on. Italian idioms

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nato con la camicia

Nato con la camicia, literally “born with the shirt on”, is an Italian idiom. Do you now the meaning? Listen and repeat.

Today we are going to learn some Italian idioms and proverbs on clothes and accessories. Read and listen to the correct pronunciation, repeat. Are you ready? Siete pronti?

Nato con la camicia

When someone is often lucky, we say he or she was born with a shirt on.

Luciano ha vinto alla lotteria, è nato con la camicia!

 

 

Essere “culo e camicia”

When two people are always together, like “ass and shirt” (joined at the hip).

Quei due stanno sempre insieme, sono come culo e camicia.

 

Fare le scarpe (a qualcuno)

“Make the shoes” for someone. To plot against someone, usually at work.

Hanno licenziato il mio capo. Qualcuno gli ha fatto le scarpe.

 

Rimanere in mutande

Only in your underwear, without money.

Dopo avere perso il lavoro, Claudio è rimasto in mutande.

 

Portare i pantaloni

“Wearing trousers”, to be the head of the family. To be in charge

Maria porta i pantaloni, suo marito non dice mai niente.

 

 

L’abito non fa il monaco

Dressing like a monk, does’t make you a monk. Appearances are deceiving.

 

Attaccare bottone

Sewing a button, it means “to strike a conversation”.

Federico è molto estroverso, attacca bottone con tutti.

 

 

Appendere le scarpe al chiodo

To hang up your boots, to quit.

Ho lavorato per tutta la vita. Adesso è ora di appendere le scarpe al chiodo.

 

 

Essere una mezza calzetta

To be a “half sock”, a worthless person, lacking personality or ability.

Sei proprio una mezza calzetta!

 

Sudare sette camicie

To “sweat seven shirts”, to do something difficult, requiring a lot of effort.

Abbiamo sudato sette camicie per dipingere casa.

 

 

Painting: Tiziano – Ritratto di Francesco I di Francia (1538)

“Figurati”, “ci mancherebbe”, “non c’è di che”, you are quite welcome (in Italian) – Webcast

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In Italian, when someone says grazie, you should say prego.

That’s fine, but there are other ways to to say “you are welcome”.

WEBCAST

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The easiest way to say thank you in Italian is grazie, and prego is you are welcome. We all know that. If you want to  express your gratitude, regardless of the social position  of the person you’re talking to or situation, grazie and prego are enough.

However, if you are learning Italian, you should know other ways to say “thank you” and “you are welcome” because people in Italy use the expressions we are going to see in this post.

We can start with ti ringrazio (= io ringrazio te) and the formal la ringrazio (= io ringrazio Lei) as “thank you so much.”. We can use this structure with different subjects: vi ringrazio, vi ringraziamo, (lui / lei) ti ringrazia and so on.

Less common and rather obsolete is grazie di cuore.

  • grazie, grazie mille
  • ti ringrazio, la ringrazio
  • (io) vi ringrazio, (noi) vi ringraziamo … (lui / lei) ti ringrazia etc.
  • grazie di cuore

Alternatives to your are welcome in Italian are the following:

  • figurati, si figuri (or “si immagini”)
  • ci mancherebbe
  • non c’è di che
  • non c’è problema
  • nessun disturbo

Figurati (tu) and Si figuri (Lei) is like “do not mention it”. Literally, this is the imperative of to imagine, to figure. It means you are welcome, “you can imagine it was no problem”.

Ci mancherebbe, conditional of mancarci, to lack or to miss, is close to “it’s the least I could do”, you are welcome. The “ci” adds an idiomatic touch to the verb.

Both figurati and ci mancherebbe sometimes don’t mean you’re welcome but “don’t even mention it” because it’s “out of the question”, impossible.

  • Figurati se mio fratello mi presterà mille euro.

He won’t lend me money, no way, (can you picture him doing that?).

The translation is not perfect, there is no match with English, You should simply look at the context.

  • Non c’è di che (ringraziare)

very polite form to mean “there’s no reason to say thanks”.

  • Non c’è problema

is not as common as “no problem” in English, but we use it sometimes.

  • Nessun disturbo

is the answer to “Scusa (scusi) per il disturbo”, sorry for the hassle. You are welcome, no problem.

I hope this was useful. Try a free Skype class. Alla prossima.

Painting: Vittorio Matteo Corcos – Mezzogiorno al mare 1884

© 2017 Dante Learning

“Ancora ancora”, “giusto giusto” and other fun Italian words – WEBCAST

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Some Italian words, when repeated, change meaning. For example “ancora ancora”…

Webcast

The word ancora, (emphasis on ancora) has different meanings. It can be “again”, “not yet” (as non ancora), “still”, “so far”, depending on the position in the sentence, the situation etcetera.
There is also a very peculiar use of this one and other words: when repeated, ancora ancora, the meaning changes.

We say ancora ancora in contrast to something unacceptable, unbearable, of low quality, to mean that something else is quite acceptable in comparison.

  • Gioco malissimo a calcio, ma a pallavolo ancora ancora me la cavo.

  • Sono vegetariano e non mi piace la carne. Le uova ancora ancora.

  • Ci sono troppi turisti  a Venezia in Agosto. A Verona ancora ancora si riesce a camminare.

 

You should be familiar with the word Quasi. It comes straight from Latin into Italian (and English) and it means “almost”. So, Ho quasi finito, means that I’m almost done and so on. If we repeat it, as quasi quasi, the meaning changes completely. It roughly means  “having half a mind to…”, to be tempted to…

 

  • Oggi fa bel tempo, quasi quasi vado al mare.

  • Ho un po’ di febbre. Quasi quasi non vado in ufficio.

  • Si è fatto tardi, quasi quasi è meglio tornare a casa.

 

Another one is giusto giusto. Giusto alone means right, correct or just. When we  say it twice, it means that something is a perfect match, it fits, is just what I need.

 

  • Queste scarpe mi vanno giuste giuste.

  • Laura è giusta giusta per Federico.

  • Oggi è una giornata giusta giusta per correre al parco.

 

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If you play the piano, perhaps you know it’s an instrument created in Italy. The italian name is pianoforte, meaning “slow and fast” (or “soft and loud”). Piano is an adverb. Corro piano means I run slowly. Piano piano means carefully, very slowly or with a low or slow voice.

 

  • Se parli l’inglese piano piano, ti capisco.

  • Mia nonna ha 90 anni, ma piano piano va in paese a piedi a fare la spesa.

  • Piano piano, studiando molto, ho imparato lo spagnolo.

 

Zitto means silent, stare zitto (or zitta) is “to be silent”, sometimes “to shut up”. Zitto zitto is quite funny. We use it when someone does something “behind the curtain”, without drawing attention. We usually put it at the beginning of the sentence.

 

  • Zitto zitto, Michele ha comprato la casa al mare.

  • Zitta zitta, Laura ha lavorato molto ed è stata promossa.

  • Zitti zitti, i tuoi amici hanno organizzato una festa a sorpresa.

 

If you want to learn more spoken Italian with a native teacher, book a fre Skype class. Ciao!

Italian painting of today – Cristiano Banti, Passeggiata sotto la pioggia – 1880

“Va tutto a gonfie vele”: Italian idioms and the verb andare – Webcast

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There are plenty of Italian idioms with the verb andare. I’ve selected 15 interesting ones.

Read, listen and repeat.

“Andare” with a preposition can often be an idiom. For example, the sentence “andare a gonfie vele” means that things are going extremely well, something like “full steam (sail) ahead”.

Il lavoro sta andando a gonfie vele

 

We can have avere followed by prepositions, such as a, in, di or with a simple adverb.

andare a rotoli – to fall apart

Il matrimonio di Lucia e Andrea sta andando a rotoli.

andare a ruba – to sell fast

L’ultimo libro di Alessandro Baricco sta andando a ruba.

andare a tentoni – fumbling around

E’ molto buio, vado a tentoni.

andare a genio – to be good enough

Gli amici di mio figlio non mi vanno a genio.

andare a fagiolo – to fit perfectly

Il giovedì libero mi va proprio a fagiolo.

andare in fumo – go up in smoke

L’investimento che ho fatto l’anno scorso è andato in fumo.

andare in giro – wandering around

Il mio gatto va sempre in giro per i fatti suoi.

andare in palla – to lose it

Durante l’esame orale, alcuni studenti sono andati in palla.

andare in rosso – wind up in red

Non avevo più soldi sul mio conto in banca, quindi sono andato in rosso.

andare in bestia – to lose it

I politici in televisione mi fanno andare in bestia!

andare di lusso – hit the jackpot

Il poliziotto non mi ha fatto la multa. Mi è andata di lusso.

andare di male in peggio – from bad to worse

Ieri ho perso il lavoro e oggi si è rotta la mia macchina. Va di male in peggio.

andare di pari passo – go hand in hand

La disoccupazione va di pari passo con la crisi economica.

andare d’amore e d’accordo – get along great

L’anno scorso in ufficio andavamo tutti d’amore e d’accordo.

andare di sfiga – to be unlucky

Ho perso l’ultimo treno per due minuti. Mi è andata di sfiga.

If you have better translations, feel free to add them below.

Grazie e a presto.

“Che fegato!” Italian body parts and idioms. Quiz

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Simple Italian idioms related to body parts combined with “avere”.

There are more complex idioms with body parts, but today we’ll see ten basic expressions. I’m going to dedicate more posts to specific idioms. Siete pronti?

Quiz

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Anno nuovo, vita nuova – Italian proverbs about New Year – Audio

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Some famous Italian proverbs about New Year and winter. Audio.

Chi non gioca a Natale, chi non balla a Carnevale, chi non beve a san Martino è un amico malandrino.

Who doesn’t play at Christmas, who doesn’t dance at Carnival, who doesn’t drink on St. Martin’s day is a shady friend.

Tempo chiaro e dolce a capodanno, assicura bel tempo tutto l’anno.

Clear and mild weather on New Year’s Day assures good weather throughout the year.

Cotta o pesta, la neve dà acqua.

Whether melted or crushed, snow turns into water.

Donna, vino, legna e pane, lascia che nevichi fino a domane.

Woman (man…), wine, firewood, and bread, let it snow until tomorrow.

Al primo caldo non ti spogliare, al primo freddo non ti vestire

Do not undress at the first warmth, do not dress at the first cold.

Anno nuovo, vita nuova.

No need to explain this one.

Quel che si fa il primo dell’anno, si fa per tutto l’anno.

What you do on the first day of the year, you do throughout the whole year.

L’Epifania, tutte le feste le porta via.

Epiphany, celebrated on January 6th, marks the end of the Christmas holiday season and the removal of Christmas decorations. It’s often used to emphasize the return to normalcy.

Ogni gatto ha il suo gennaio.

Every cat has “its January”. Cats fall in love in January and sometimes they behave erratically. So do people in January.

Tre cose sono di breve durata: giuramenti delle donne, amicizia dei potenti e sole d’inverno.

“There a three short things: promises of women, friendship of powerful people and the winter sunlight”. This is an old proverb. We should add “giuramenti degli uomini” to the list.

Thanks for reading and listening. Remember to buy some red underwear on New Year’s Eve. A presto!

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    Italian Painting of Today: Giuseppe De Nittis – La lezione di pattinaggio (1875)

    Era ora! – Some Common Italian Sayings

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    I love Italian idioms, sayings, and proverbs. Let’s learn some expressions related to time: il tempo.

    Whether you are a beginner or a fluent Italian speaker, you should learn some sayings as soon as possible for many reasons. They are fun, useful, and will help you speak more naturally.

    I’ve put together a small list of common Italian sayings related to “time” with a basic translation and some examples. The examples are only in Italian, and the audio is at natural speed. The sentences are not too difficult, but I made the listening task a bit faster than usual.

    Try to understand and write your own sentences using the same expressions. We can check them during our Zoom classes.

    Cominciamo!

    Era ora – It was about time

    Fabio e Lucia si sposeranno la prossima primavera. Era ora!

    D’ora in poi – From now on

    Sono a dieta. D’ora in poi non mangerò né pane né pasta.

    Fai con comodo – Take your time

    Fai pure con comodo, il film comincia tra due ore.

    In quattro e quattr’otto – In no time

    Il gatto aveva fame. Ha ripulito la ciotola in quattro e quattr’otto!

    Al più presto – As soon as possible

    Devo prenotare le vacanze al più presto, altrimenti i voli saranno troppo cari.

    Ogni morte di Papa – Once in a blue moon (lit. Every time the Pope dies)

    Mia sorella è tirchia. Mi offre il caffè ogni morte di Papa.

    In fretta e furia – in a hurry

    Ha cominciato a piovere molto forte e abbiamo lasciato la spiaggia in fretta e furia.

    Alle calende greche – Indefinitely, in a very long time

    Il pacco che ho spedito in posta arriverà in America alle calende greche

    Campa cavallo (che l’erba cresce) – Waiting in vain… – Lit. The horse grows old (and the grass too)

    Se ti avessi aspettato per un invito a cena, campa cavallo…

    Con il senno di poi – In hindsight

    Con il senno di poi, avrei dovuto aspettare prima di comprare una macchina nuova.

    

    Thanks for reading. I hope this was useful.

    “Che”, Chi, “Cosa” or “Che cosa”? The Italian way to say “What?” and “Who”

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    Are there any differences between “Che”, “Chi”, “Cosa” or “Che Cosa?” for asking “Who” or “What?” in Italian? Set phrases audio examples and Quiz

    We are going to learn some similarities and differences between three words; “che”, “chi”, and “cosa”.

    There are many things that I am not going to explain, in particular, “che” is the 9th most common Italian word, so I’m just clarifying some doubts related to the confusion with “chi”. Same goes with “che” compared to “cosa”.

    Cominciamo?

    CHE vs COSA vs CHE COSA as in “What?”

    Let’s start with the first dilemma. How should one ask “What” in Italian?

    Veniamo al dunque. Are the following three sentences different?

    • Che mangi stasera?
    • Cosa mangi stasera?
    • Che cosa mangi stasera?

    The short answer is no, there are no differences between “che”, “cosa” or “che cosa” as in “What…?” They are all correct questions. What (thing) are you eating tonight?

    If we translate word by word, “che” as an interrogative pronoun means “what” and “cosa” means “thing”.

    Until a few decades ago, “che? ” and “che cosa ?” as in “what?” used to be the only options accepted. However “Cosa?” used by itself became prevalent with time. Literally “Thing you are eating tonight?”

    Of course, “Che cosa” sounds like a duplication to non Italian ears and “Cosa” alone sounds incomplete.

    The question is not banal nor uncommon among native speakers and finds a clear answer in the Accademia della Crusca, the Italian Academy of Linguistics. It all depends on regional Italian.

    “Cosa” alone, is used more in Northern Italy and Sardinia, “Che” in the centre-south and “che cosa” is the classic literary form, valid everywhere. They are all perfectly interchangeable in spoken Italian.

    I can confirm that in Milan “cosa” is arguably more common than the other two, although “che cosa” is also an option, and “che” alone sounds non milanese. In Roma for example, people tend to use “che” alone.

    • Che stai facendo?
    • Cosa stai facendo?
    • Che cosa stai facendo?

    If we dig a little and look up classic authors, we can articulate better the answer.

    Boccaccio (1300s), usually wrote “che cosa”, which is somehow more elegant and makes more sense, when we pay attention to the actual meaning (“what thing..?”, “che cosa…?”).

    “Cosa” without “che” was introduced in the Italian literature rather recently, less than 200 years ago.

    Alessandro Manzoni (mid 1800s), one of the fathers of the contemporary Italian language, an authentic Milanese as I am, gave literary dignity to “cosa” instead of “che cosa” in the pages of a famous romantic novel I promessi sposi, “The Betrothed”, a hefty book about a complicated wedding during a pandemic, staged on the shores of the Lake of Como.

    Translated word by word, “Cosa mangi stasera?” is something like “Thing you eat tonight?”. It may sound strange to non-native speakers, but you should just learn it this way. “Cosa” in this case just means “what”.

    Some set phrases

    I will mix “che” “che cosa” and “cosa” randomly but you can play around with the sentences and try the three alternatives. The following are very common in spoken Italian. Listen and repeat.

    • Che vuoi di più? What more could you ask for?
    • A cosa devo il piacere? To what do I owe the pleasure?
    • Che cosa ne pensi? What do you think about it?
    • Che ci fai qui? What are you doing here?
    • Che vuoi che ti dica… What can I say…
    • Che mi racconti? What are you up to?
    • Che succede? What’s going on?
    • Cosa ci vuoi fare… Nothing you can do…
    • Di che cosa si tratta? What is it about?
    • Cosa ti aspettavi? What were you expecting?

    That’s just a small set of examples. Learn to speak Italian like the Italians do, try the quiz at the bottom of this page.

    CHE vs CHI as in “Who?”

    This is another open question that my students come up with pretty frequently. It would be natural to think and translate “chi” as “who” in English il all possibile situations, and it happens all the time with beginners. And it is wrong.

    In fact, key means “who” only in questions and negative sentences, for example:

    • Chi ha telefonato ieri sera?
    • Non so chi verrà alla festa.

    In affirmative sentences, chi represents a plurality, even though grammatically it is singular.

    • Chi non lavora, non ha soldi. (Those who do not work don’t make money)

    Chi means roughly those who, people who, the ones who.

    Let’s try to translate the following in Italian:

    • Mario is friend who works with me

    We would say:

    • Mario è un amico che (chi) lavora con me.

    We cannot use “chi” as “who” in regular affirmative sentences. The correct solution is “che”.

    There are rules and exceptions of course, so if you have any questions or doubts, feel free to ask below.

    Solve the quiz and book a trial Italian Skype class. Alla prossima!

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    Francesco Hayez – Il bacio 1859

    Quiz livello intermedio B2-1: Listening task- MILANO, shopping & vocabulary

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    Quiz livello intermedio B2-1

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    Conversational Italian – Avere and Fare – Quiz & Audio

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    Conversational Italian - Avere and Fare - Quiz & Audio

    Today we’ll talk about the verbs Avere and Fare in conversational Italian

    Ciao a tutti.

    Important Italian verbs such as avere and fare can be used for building simple and complex expressions that people use every day. Essere and fare are often confusing to English speakers because the equivalent verbs have a slightly different function.

    Today we are going to see rather simple, useful and common sentences with avere and fare. 

    Try to translate the examples below. Listen and repeat after the audio.

    Avere

    • Avere mal di … (to have an ache)  – Ho mal di testa, oggi non lavoro.
    • Avere bisogno di … (to need) – Abbiamo bisogno del tuo aiuto.
    • Avere sete/sonno/ fame (to be thirsty, sleepy, hungry) – Non ho fame, non mangio.
    • Avere caldo / freddo (to feel hot/cold). Abbiamo caldo, apri la finestra per favore.
    • Avere voglia di … (to feel like doing…) – Hai voglia di andare al cinema?
    • Avere a che fare … – (have to deal with…) – Non ho niente a che fare con te.
    • Avere da fare (to be busy) – Scusa ma oggi ho da fare, non ho tempo.
    • Avere da bere/mangiare (have something to eat / drink). Hai qualcosa da bere?
    • Avere paura di … (to be afraid of). Mia moglie ha paura dei cani.
    • Avere ragione / torto (to be right/ wrong). Tua madre ha sempre ragione.

     

    Fare

    • Fare caldo / freddo (to be warm/cold *in a place). In Italia fa caldo in agosto.
    • Fare attenzione (to pay attention / to be careful). Mio fratello non fa attenzione a questi dettagli.
    • Fare un viaggio (to take a trip). Abbiamo appena fatto un viaggio in Francia.
    • Fare finta di… (to pretend). Michele fa finta di dormire ma è sveglio.
    • Fare un giro (to go for a walk/ride). Mi sto annoiando a casa. Faccio un giro e torno.
    • Fare schifo (to be disgusting) – I broccoli non mi piacciono, fanno schifo.
    • Fare il bagno/la doccia/- (take a bath / shower) – Oggi non ho fatto la doccia!
    • Fare due chiacchiere (chitchat) – Quando hai tempo, facciamo due chiacchiere.
    • Fare presto (to hurry) –  Abbiamo bisogno di te, fai presto per favore.
    • Fare tardi (to be late / to stay out late) – Oggi ho sonno perché ieri ho fatto tardi.

     

    Thanks for reading, try the quiz and ask your questions in the comments. Alla prossima!

     

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    Angelo Inganni – Ritratto di signora – 1880

     

    Don`t copy text!