In Italian, the phrase Fammi sapere (“let me know”) is used as a request to another person to provide information about something once they have the details at a later time.
Fammi sapere!
Let me know!
Far sapere is how you would say “to let (someone) know” or “to inform” in Italian. It is made up of the verb fare (“to do / make” but also “to let”) in its truncated form far and the infinitive sapere (to know).
Be aware that far sapere in Italian takes an indirect object, which means you must use the preposition a (to) and indirect object pronouns (mi, ti, gli, etc.).
far sapere + a + qualcuno = to inform + (to) + someone
Faccio sapere a Marco che sei qui.
I’ll let Marco know you’re here.
Gli faccio sapere che sei qui.
I’ll let him know you’re here.
In this specific phrase, the verb fare appears in its imperative form fa, with the addition of the indirect object pronoun mi (to me). The literal translation would be “let to me”.
Fammi sapere se puoi venire!
Let me know if you can come!
Of course, fammi sapere is the informal way of saying “let me know” and it can only be directed at one person. If you want to address two or more people, you must use fatemi (“you all let me”) instead of fammi.
Fatemi sapere quando pensate di andare!
Let me know (both of you / all of you) when you’re thinking of going!
But what about formal situations? When addressing one person with respect, you must use the phrase mi faccia sapere, with the indirect object pronoun mi at the beginning of the sentence. The formal imperative form of fare is faccia.
Mi faccia sapere se ha bisogno di altro.
If you need anything else, do let me know.
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.
