Is there someone in your life with whom you have a perfectly harmonious relationship? If so, you could describe your bond using the adjective affiatato.
affiatato
close / close-knit
Affiatato can be translated as close or close-knit, but in English, it’s just as common to use wordier descriptions to illustrate the relationship. Let’s look at a couple of examples:
- un gruppo di docenti affiatati = a group of teachers who work well together
- un gruppo di amici affiatati = a group of friends who get along
La nostra squadra è molto affiatata – lavoriamo insieme da anni.
Our team is very close-knit – we have been working together for years.
Because it is an adjective, the ending changes in accordance with the number and gender of the subject:
- il gruppo affiatato = the close-knit group
- la squadra affiatata = the close-knit team
- i gruppi affiatati = the close-knit groups
- le squadre affiatate = the close-knit teams
The verb affiatare, from which affiatato derives, is best translated as “to get along”, “to mesh” or “to work well together”. It comes from the noun fiato, meaning breath. You may also encounter the pronominal verb affiatarsi, which also means “to get along” or “to gain familiarity”.
Ci siamo subito affiatati con i nuovi compagni di classe.
We immediately got along with our new classmates.
You will often see it used to describe actors, singers, musicians, sports team and other kinds of groups that work harmoniously together.
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.
