🔍 In short. Italian in meglio and in peggio are the standard way to say “for the better” and “for the worse”. You attach them to verbs of change: la situazione è cambiata in meglio, il tempo si è messo in peggio, le cose sono andate di male in peggio. The pattern is fixed: you do not say in migliore or in peggiore. Italian uses the short adverbial forms meglio and peggio, never the longer adjectival ones, after in. This B1 guide to italian in meglio covers the core cambiare in meglio pattern, the cousin expressions (volgere al peggio, prendere una piega, di bene in meglio, tanto peggio), and a dialogue at an agriturismo in Vibo Valentia.
Get italian in meglio right and you stop sounding like a translator. Italian in meglio is one of the high-frequency phrases native speakers reach for daily. Italians talk about change with a tiny handful of fixed phrases, and once you have them, you can describe a relationship, a job, the weather, the harvest or a knee injury with native ease.
Cosa impareremo oggi
👆🏻 Jump to section
- The core pattern: italian in meglio and in peggio
- Why meglio and peggio, not migliore and peggiore
- Which verbs go with in meglio and in peggio
- Di bene in meglio and di male in peggio
- Prendere una piega: the turn metaphor
- Tanto meglio and tanto peggio: reactions
- Three mistakes English speakers make
- Cheat sheet
- Dialogue at an agriturismo in Vibo Valentia
- Mini-challenge
- Frequently asked questions
- Related guides
The core pattern: italian in meglio and in peggio
Walk into any Calabrian kitchen during the November olive harvest and you will hear the phrase within the first five minutes. A neighbour leans on the doorframe, looks at the rain outside and says questa stagione sta cambiando in peggio, le olive marciscono per terra. A few hours later, when the sky clears, his wife counters: vedrai che adesso le cose vanno in meglio. The italian in meglio and italian in peggio pair is the everyday way to describe change of state, and italian in meglio is the form you will hear most often in spoken conversation. Italian in meglio crosses every register, from kitchen chatter to news bulletins.
The italian in meglio pattern is simple: a verb of change, then in meglio or in peggio. The two phrases are invariable. They do not agree, they do not change form, and they sit at the end of the clause. Italian in meglio works exactly like italian in peggio, just with the opposite sign.
- La situazione è cambiata in meglio.
The situation has changed for the better. - Il tempo sta volgendo in peggio.
The weather is turning for the worse. - Da quando hanno cambiato direttore, l’agriturismo va in meglio.
Since they changed the manager, the agriturismo is doing better. - Le sue condizioni sono peggiorate, anzi diciamo che sono andate in peggio.
His condition has worsened, or rather has gone for the worse. - Speriamo che il raccolto delle olive vada in meglio l’anno prossimo.
Let’s hope the olive harvest goes better next year.
Notice that italian in meglio describes a direction, not a final state. You say è cambiata in meglio to mean the change moved in the positive direction, not that the result is perfect. Italian keeps direction and state separate, where English happily collapses both into “for the better”. This is one of the structural quirks of italian in meglio worth memorising early.
Why meglio and peggio, not migliore and peggiore
This is the trap that catches every learner of italian in meglio. Italian has two pairs of comparatives: the short adverbial forms meglio and peggio, and the longer adjectival forms migliore and peggiore. Only the short forms work after in.
- La situazione è cambiata in meglio.
The situation has changed for the better. ✅ La situazione è cambiata in migliore.❌ Not Italian.- Il vino quest’anno è migliore dell’anno scorso.
The wine this year is better than last year. (adjective, agrees with noun) - Il vino quest’anno è venuto meglio dell’anno scorso.
The wine this year turned out better than last year. (adverb, modifies verb)
The rule sits on a simple distinction. Migliore and peggiore are adjectives: they describe nouns and they agree in number (migliori, peggiori). Meglio and peggio are adverbs: they describe verbs and never change form. After in, Italian uses the adverb, because the whole phrase modifies a verb of change.
The same logic that governs italian in meglio applies to the related expression essere meglio versus essere migliore. È meglio partire presto (it is better to leave early) uses the adverb because what follows is an action; questo vino è migliore (this wine is better) uses the adjective because it qualifies a noun. Mixing them up is one of the most diagnostic learner errors at B1.
🎯 Mini-task: Pick the right form: meglio/migliore or peggio/peggiore.
- Dopo la pioggia il tempo è cambiato in (meglio / migliore).
- Questo olio è (meglio / migliore) di quello che abbiamo comprato al supermercato.
- La salute di mio padre è andata in (peggio / peggiore) dopo l’inverno.
- È (meglio / migliore) prenotare prima, l’agriturismo è quasi pieno.
- La camera al primo piano è (peggio / peggiore) di quella sotto: c’è meno luce.
👉 Show answers
1. in meglio (adverbial, after in)
2. migliore (adjective, qualifies olio)
3. in peggio (adverbial, after in)
4. meglio (adverbial, modifies prenotare)
5. peggiore (adjective, qualifies camera)
Which verbs go with in meglio and in peggio
Not every verb pairs naturally with italian in meglio. The italian in meglio phrase belongs to a small family of change-of-state verbs. Here are the ones that sound native to an Italian ear when combined with italian in meglio.
- cambiare in meglio / in peggio (the most common pairing): è cambiato in meglio means “it changed for the better”.
- andare in meglio / in peggio (describes a trajectory): le cose vanno in meglio means “things are going better”.
- volgere in meglio / in peggio (slightly formal, used for weather and situations): il tempo volge al peggio means “the weather is turning for the worse”.
- mettersi in meglio / in peggio (colloquial, used mainly for weather and health): la giornata si è messa in peggio means “the day turned bad”.
- prendere una piega in meglio / in peggio (fixed metaphor, literally “to take a fold”): la situazione ha preso una piega in peggio means “the situation took a turn for the worse”.
One small variant worth knowing about italian in meglio: with volgere and mettersi you will often hear al peggio rather than in peggio. Il tempo volge al peggio is more common than in peggio, and al meglio exists too but is less frequent (la situazione si è risolta al meglio, “the situation worked out as best it could”). The two prepositions do slightly different jobs: in marks a direction of change, a marks the destination or final outcome. For B1 purposes, stick to italian in meglio and in peggio for change, and learn al meglio separately as a fixed phrase meaning “as best as possible”.
Di bene in meglio and di male in peggio
Italian doubles the italian in meglio construction for emphasis with the pair di bene in meglio and di male in peggio. These two phrases describe a progressive movement: each step is worse (or better) than the last. Boccaccio already used di male in peggio in the 14th century, and modern Italian has kept it in everyday speech without changes.
- Da quando abbiamo aperto al pubblico, l’agriturismo va di bene in meglio.
Since we opened to the public, the agriturismo has been going better and better. - La stagione delle olive è andata di male in peggio: prima i cinghiali, poi la grandine.
The olive season went from bad to worse: first the wild boars, then the hail. - Le recensioni su TripAdvisor sono andate di bene in meglio dopo che abbiamo rifatto le camere.
The TripAdvisor reviews have been going better and better since we redid the rooms. - Il trattore va di male in peggio: oggi non parte più nemmeno a caldo.
The tractor is going from bad to worse: today it won’t even start when warm. - Margherita dice che con il nuovo medico sua madre sta di bene in meglio.
Margherita says with the new doctor her mother is doing better and better.
Native speakers often use this italian in meglio variant ironically when things are actually getting worse: i prezzi della benzina sono saliti ancora, andiamo di bene in meglio!. The irony is signalled by tone and context. Di male in peggio, by contrast, is almost never ironic. If someone says le cose vanno di male in peggio, they mean it.
A note on form. The asymmetry between di bene in meglio (positive starting point: bene) and di male in peggio (negative starting point: male) reflects the underlying logic. You start from a baseline (good or bad) and move further in that direction. Italian also has a literary cousin, di peggio in peggio, but it is rare in modern usage. Stick to the canonical italian in meglio pair.
Prendere una piega: the turn metaphor
A cousin of italian in meglio worth knowing is the verb prendere combined with una piega, literally “to take a fold”. The image is of a path that bends or a fabric that creases. The phrase always implies a noticeable shift, and the direction is specified by an adjective: una piega in meglio, una piega in peggio, una bella piega, una brutta piega.
- Il discorso con Lorenzo ha preso una brutta piega.
The conversation with Lorenzo took a bad turn. - Speriamo che la trattativa prenda una piega in meglio entro venerdì.
Let’s hope the negotiation takes a turn for the better by Friday. - Da quando ha cambiato lavoro, la sua vita ha preso una bella piega.
Since he changed jobs, his life has taken a nice turn. - Quel ragazzo sta prendendo una brutta piega, ha smesso di studiare.
That boy is taking a bad turn, he’s stopped studying.
The default collocation, the one you will hear most often, is una brutta piega. It is so common that Italians sometimes use it without specifying: la cosa sta prendendo una piega by itself, with falling intonation, almost always means a bad turn. The positive version una bella piega or una piega in meglio needs to be explicit, because the metaphor leans negative by default.
Tanto meglio and tanto peggio: reactions
Outside the italian in meglio family, two other fixed phrases use meglio and peggio as reactions to news. Tanto meglio means “so much the better”, “good thing”, “fine by me”. Tanto peggio means “so much the worse”, “too bad”, “their loss”. These do not describe change, they comment on it.
- “Hanno cancellato la riunione.” “Tanto meglio, avevo mille cose da fare.”
“They cancelled the meeting.” “So much the better, I had a thousand things to do.” - Se non vengono alla degustazione, peggio per loro.
If they don’t come to the tasting, too bad for them. - Tanto peggio, abbiamo già prenotato il ristorante e non lo cambiamo.
Too bad, we’ve already booked the restaurant and we’re not changing it. - Sai che Lorenzo non viene? Tanto meglio, così ci sediamo tutti.
Did you know Lorenzo isn’t coming? So much the better, then we can all sit down.
A useful cousin to add to your active vocabulary: meno male, which despite its literal “less bad” actually means “thank goodness” or “just as well”. Meno male che c’è il sole, possiamo apparecchiare in giardino means “thank goodness it’s sunny, we can set the table outside”. This is one of those idioms where word-by-word translation is misleading. Italians use meno male dozens of times a day; it is the everyday equivalent of English “phew” or “luckily”.
Three mistakes English speakers make
Three slips with italian in meglio flag a sentence as written by a learner of italian in meglio. Each is easy to fix once you see it.
Mistake 1: Saying “in migliore” or “in peggiore”
The temptation is strong because migliore looks like the “full” word and meglio looks like a shortcut. The reverse is true: after the preposition in only the adverbial forms meglio and peggio are grammatical. La situazione è cambiata in migliore is not Italian. Always in meglio, always in peggio.
Mistake 2: Translating “for” literally with per
English “for the better” tempts learners into per il meglio. The fixed Italian phrase uses in, not per. Per il meglio does exist (fare le cose per il meglio means “to do things for the best”), but it answers a different question: it expresses intention, not direction of change. To describe a change, only in meglio works.
Mistake 3: Forgetting that di bene in meglio uses bene, not buono
The pair is di bene in meglio and di male in peggio. Both start from the adverb (bene, male), not from the adjective (buono, cattivo). Di buono in migliore is a learner invention; the only correct form is di bene in meglio. The reason is the same as in mistake 1: the whole construction is built on adverbs.
🎯 Mini-task: Fix the mistake in each sentence.
- La salute di mia nonna è cambiata in migliore dopo la cura.
- Speriamo che le cose vadano per il meglio entro l’estate.
- L’azienda va di buono in migliore da quando c’è il nuovo direttore.
- Il discorso con Furio ha preso una piega in peggiore.
- Tanto migliore, se non vogliono venire alla degustazione.
👉 Show answers
1. è cambiata in meglio (only the adverb works after in)
2. vadano in meglio (for direction of change); vadano per il meglio only fits if the meaning is “as best as possible”
3. va di bene in meglio (adverbs, not adjectives)
4. una piega in peggio (the adverb)
5. Tanto meglio (the reaction phrase uses the adverb)
Cheat sheet
One table covers the whole italian in meglio family. Keep it open while you build your next sentence about change with italian in meglio.
| Phrase | Meaning | Example |
|---|---|---|
| cambiare in meglio | to change for the better | La situazione è cambiata in meglio. |
| cambiare in peggio | to change for the worse | Il tempo è cambiato in peggio. |
| andare in meglio | to be going better | Le cose vanno in meglio. |
| volgere al peggio | to turn for the worse (formal) | Il tempo volge al peggio. |
| mettersi in peggio | to take a turn for the worse | La giornata si è messa in peggio. |
| di bene in meglio | better and better | L’agriturismo va di bene in meglio. |
| di male in peggio | from bad to worse | Le cose vanno di male in peggio. |
| prendere una piega | to take a turn | La trattativa ha preso una brutta piega. |
| tanto meglio | so much the better | Tanto meglio, avevo da fare. |
| tanto peggio | so much the worse, too bad | Tanto peggio per loro. |
| meno male | thank goodness, just as well | Meno male che c’è il sole. |
| al meglio | as best as possible | Si è risolto al meglio. |
Dialogue at an agriturismo in Vibo Valentia
Daria and Furio run a small agriturismo on the hills above Vibo Valentia, in southern Calabria. They produce extra-virgin olive oil from their own grove, keep a biological vegetable garden for the guests’ meals, and have a handful of rooms in the old farmhouse. It’s late November, the olive harvest is almost over, and a German couple has just arrived for a long weekend. The dialogue below packs in italian in meglio and its cousin phrases as they come up in natural conversation.
👱🏼♀️ Daria: Furio, hai visto il cielo? Mi sa che il tempo sta volgendo al peggio. Avevo promesso ai tedeschi la cena in terrazza.
👨🏼🦰 Furio: Tranquilla, le previsioni dicono che dopo le sette si rimette in meglio. Al massimo apparecchiamo dentro e poi prendiamo l’amaro fuori.
👱🏼♀️ Daria: Speriamo. Sai che la signora Schmidt mi ha già scritto due email per chiedere se c’è vista mare dalla terrazza?
👨🏼🦰 Furio: Sì, l’ho letta anche io. A proposito, le recensioni di ottobre sono andate di bene in meglio: cinque stelle quasi tutte, e una signora di Berlino ha scritto un paragrafo intero sull’olio.
👱🏼♀️ Daria: Meno male, perché con la stagione delle olive che è andata come è andata, avevamo bisogno di una bella notizia.
👨🏼🦰 Furio: Eh, di male in peggio. Prima la grandine ad agosto, poi i cinghiali che hanno scavato sotto l’ulivo grande, e adesso il frantoio che ha alzato i prezzi.
👱🏼♀️ Daria: Però l’olio quest’anno è venuto meglio dell’anno scorso, l’hai assaggiato? Più amaro, più verde, proprio come piace a noi.
👨🏼🦰 Furio: Vero. Senti, riguardo all’orto, ho deciso che da gennaio cambiamo due cose in meglio: prendiamo la rete antigrandine seria e installiamo il sistema d’irrigazione a goccia che ci aveva suggerito Lorenzo.
👱🏼♀️ Daria: Buona idea. Costa, ma se non investiamo le cose vanno solo in peggio. L’altro giorno il vicino del fondo accanto mi diceva che ha perso metà della cipolla per la siccità.
👨🏼🦰 Furio: Tanto peggio per chi non si adatta, dico io. Tu però promettimi una cosa: stasera, qualunque piega prenda il tempo, ai tedeschi serviamo la zuppa di cicerchie. È il piatto che si ricorderanno.
👱🏼♀️ Daria: Promesso. E poi finiamo con il dolce al bergamotto, così pensano che la Calabria sia il posto migliore del Mediterraneo e tornano in primavera.
👨🏼🦰 Furio: Vedrai che le cose vanno in meglio. Adesso però aiutami a portare dentro le sedie, prima che il temporale ci sorprenda.
What to notice in the dialogue
- Il tempo sta volgendo al peggio: the formal verb volgere with al peggio for weather.
- Si rimette in meglio: rimettersi in meglio is the recovery variant, used for weather, health, mood.
- Andate di bene in meglio: the positive progressive pair.
- Di male in peggio: the negative pair, applied to a sequence of misfortunes.
- Meno male: the idiom for “thank goodness”, not literal “less bad”.
- Cambiamo due cose in meglio: the canonical italian in meglio pattern in action.
- Vanno in peggio: short form of andare in peggio, used for general trajectory.
- Tanto peggio per chi non si adatta: the reaction phrase, blunt and idiomatic.
- Qualunque piega prenda il tempo: the prendere una piega metaphor, generalised with qualunque.
- Il posto migliore: the adjective migliore (not meglio) because it qualifies the noun posto.
Mini-challenge
🎯 Final challenge: Translate into natural Italian.
- The weather is turning for the worse, let’s eat inside.
- Since we changed restaurant, our Saturday evenings have been going better and better.
- His knee is going from bad to worse, he needs to see a specialist.
- The conversation took a bad turn after the third glass of wine.
- If they don’t come to the tasting, too bad for them.
- Thank goodness the harvest finished before the rain.
👉 Show answers
1. Il tempo sta volgendo al peggio, mangiamo dentro.
2. Da quando abbiamo cambiato ristorante, i nostri sabati sera vanno di bene in meglio.
3. Il suo ginocchio va di male in peggio, deve farsi vedere da uno specialista.
4. La conversazione ha preso una brutta piega dopo il terzo bicchiere di vino.
5. Se non vengono alla degustazione, tanto peggio per loro.
6. Meno male che la raccolta è finita prima della pioggia.
Mastering italian in meglio takes consistent exposure to native speech and a small daily habit of noticing the italian in meglio phrase when it appears. Listen for italian in meglio in podcasts about Italian travel, in interviews with farmers, in weather forecasts, in family conversations. The italian in meglio pattern is so frequent that within a few weeks you will catch yourself using italian in meglio without thinking. Pair this guide on italian in meglio with the quiz below to lock in the forms, then revisit the cheat sheet a week from now to see what stuck. Italian rewards patient learners: each guide on italian in meglio builds the next layer.
Test your understanding
Take the quiz below to test what you’ve learned about italian in meglio and the family of change-of-state phrases that orbit italian in meglio.
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Frequently asked questions
These questions about italian in meglio come from real exchanges among Italian learners online and address the points that trip up B1 students of italian in meglio most often. The fixed-phrase status of di male in peggio is documented in the Treccani vocabolario entry on meglio and in the Accademia della Crusca consulenza on avverbi infidi.
What does cambiare in meglio mean in Italian?
Cambiare in meglio means to change for the better. It describes a change of state in a positive direction. The phrase is invariable, sits at the end of the clause, and uses the adverbial form meglio, not the adjectival migliore. Examples: la situazione e cambiata in meglio (the situation has changed for the better), le cose vanno in meglio (things are going better), da quando hanno cambiato direttore, l’azienda va in meglio. The negative counterpart is cambiare in peggio. Both phrases describe direction of change, not final state.
Why is it in meglio and not in migliore?
Because after the preposition in, Italian uses the adverbial forms meglio and peggio, never the adjectival forms migliore and peggiore. The whole phrase modifies a verb of change, and Italian uses adverbs to modify verbs. La situazione e cambiata in migliore is ungrammatical; the only correct form is la situazione e cambiata in meglio. The same logic governs di bene in meglio (not di buono in migliore) and tanto meglio (not tanto migliore). Adjectives describe nouns and agree with them; adverbs describe verbs and stay invariable.
What’s the difference between cambiare in meglio and migliorare?
Both can translate as to improve, but they have different feels. Migliorare is a verb that means to improve, often used for measurable progress: il mio italiano sta migliorando (my Italian is improving). Cambiare in meglio describes a change of direction or trajectory, often qualitative: la nostra vita e cambiata in meglio (our life has changed for the better). Migliorare focuses on the result of getting better; cambiare in meglio focuses on the act of changing in a positive direction. In many sentences they are interchangeable, but migliorare is more clinical, cambiare in meglio more narrative.
What does di male in peggio mean and where does it come from?
Di male in peggio means from bad to worse and describes a sequence of misfortunes where each step is worse than the last. The phrase is documented in Boccaccio’s Decameron (14th century) and Petrarch, and has remained in everyday Italian unchanged. Le cose vanno di male in peggio is the canonical use. The positive counterpart is di bene in meglio (better and better), used when each step improves on the last. Note the asymmetry: di bene in meglio starts from bene (good) and di male in peggio starts from male (bad), both adverbs, never the adjectives buono and cattivo.
Is prendere una piega always negative?
No, but the default reading leans negative. La situazione ha preso una piega without further specification is usually understood as a bad turn. To make it positive you need to be explicit: una bella piega, una piega in meglio. The phrase una brutta piega (a bad turn) is the most common collocation by a wide margin, used for conversations, negotiations, lifestyles, or general situations: il discorso ha preso una brutta piega, quel ragazzo sta prendendo una brutta piega. The metaphor is of a path that bends in a noticeable direction, and Italian intuition associates the bend with risk.
Why does meno male mean thank goodness and not less bad?
Meno male is an idiomatic fixed phrase that lost its literal meaning long ago. Historically it expressed the idea that something was less of an evil than feared (lit. less bad), but in modern Italian it functions as the everyday equivalent of English thank goodness, just as well, phew, luckily. Meno male che c’e il sole means thank goodness it’s sunny, not less bad that it’s sunny. The same idiomatic shift hits tanto meglio (so much the better, not so much better) and tanto peggio (so much the worse, too bad). These reaction phrases are best learned as units, not parsed word by word.
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Related guides
- Italian In Più, In Meno: Saying Plus and Minus (B1): the sibling construction with quantities.
- Italian Comparatives and Superlatives: Più, Meno, -issimo (B1): the full system of migliore, peggiore, meglio, peggio.
- Italian Più … Più: The More, The More (B1): the correlative pattern for progressive comparison.
- Treccani: vocabolario entry on meglio: institutional reference on the adverb and its fixed phrases.
