Today we’re going to take a look at a simple yet incredibly versatile Italian phrase: lasciare stare, which can also be written and said as lasciar stare. Literally, it translates as “to leave it to stay” (lasciare = to leave, stare = to stay/to be), but this obviously makes little sense in English. Let’s take …
Today, we’re going to look at a simple phrase that can be useful both for sincerely acknowledging someone’s good fortune and for making a slightly sarcastic remark about their happy circumstances, often with a touch of envy: Beato te! Beato te! Lucky you! Beato te! is essentially the equivalent of Lucky you! in English, with …
One phrase we tend to say far more often than we realise is “I did it!” We use it for every kind of success, whether it’s acing an important exam or finally managing to open a stubborn bottle of water. But translating this expression into Italian isn’t as straightforward as you might think. You may …
I’ve chosen Che cosa vuoi che faccia? as our phrase of the week because many English speakers, when speaking Italian, find it difficult to express the idea of one person wanting another to perform an action. Che cosa vuoi che faccia? What do you want me to do? Consider, for example, any of the following …
The day before the first group attending our Montepulciano immersion trip in October was about to head home, I had a lovely conversation at breakfast with one of the participants. He was very curious to know how to express the following phrases in Italian: Upon returning home and reflecting on the conversation, I realised just …
Today’s phrase is ho bisogno di aiuto and it can come in handy whenever you are in need of assistance in Italy. Let’s break it down into its smaller parts! Ho bisogno di aiuto! I need help! The first part of the sentence, ho, is the first person singular of avere in the present tense. …