One way of saying hindrance or obstacle in Italian is intralcio. It comes from the verb intralciare which means ‘to hinder’, ‘to hamper‘ or ‘to interfere‘.
intralcio
hindrance / obstacle
Intralcio is a masculine noun that begins with a vowel, so it takes the following definite and indefinite articles:
- l’intralcio = the hindrance
- gli intralci = the hindrances
- un intralcio = a hindrance
- degli intralci = (some) hindrances
Some common verbs you will see used with intralcio include:
- creare degli intralci = to throw a spanner in the works, to create a holdup
- superare l’intralcio = to overcome the obstacle
- rimuovere un intralcio = to remove an obstacle
In English, we often use the expression “to get in the way” when talking about a person or object that blocks our path. In Italian, you can use the expression essere d’intralcio (lit. to be a hindrance) to express the same idea.
Potresti spostare la macchina per favore? Qui è d’intralcio.
Could you move your car, please? It’s in the way.
Temo che sarei più d’intralcio che d’aiuto.
I’m afraid I would be more of a hindrance than a help.
A couple of more informal expressions with the same meaning include essere tra i piedi / in mezzo ai piedi (lit. to be between the feet) and essere in mezzo alle scatole (lit. to be in the middle of the boxes).
Heather Broster is a graduate with honours in linguistics from the University of Western Ontario. She is an aspiring polyglot, proficient in English and Italian, as well as Japanese, Welsh, and French to varying degrees of fluency. Originally from Toronto, Heather has resided in various countries, notably Italy for a period of six years. Her primary focus lies in the fields of language acquisition, education, and bilingual instruction.
