A verb you should try to pick up early on in your language learning journey is consigliare because asking locals for recommendations is a great way add a touch of authenticity to your experience in Italy!
consigliare
to recommend / suggest / advise
For example, when you visit a new city in Italy, you might wish to ask the hotel receptionist:
Cosa mi consiglia di visitare?
What do you suggest I visit?
…or when browsing a menu, you might say to the cameriere (waiter):
Mi può consigliare un buon vino?
Can you recommend a good wine?
As you’ve probably gathered by now, consigliare is an extremely useful verb to have under your belt. Here is how it conjugates in the present tense:
- io consiglio = I recommend / suggest / advise
- tu consigli = you recommend / suggest / advise
- lui / lei consiglia = he/she recommends / suggests / advises
- Lei consiglia = you recommend / suggest / advise (formal)
- noi consigliamo = we recommend / suggest / advise
- voi consigliate = you all recommend / suggest / advise
- loro consigliano = they recommend / suggest / advise
When consigliare is followed by another verb in the infinitive, you must connect them using the preposition di as in the following example:
Consiglio a Marco di studiare.
I advise Marco to study.
Because the person being advised is introduced by the preposition a, they are an indirect object. This means that you must use indirect object pronouns (mi, ti, gli, le, ci, vi, loro). Below you can see a few examples:
- Consiglio a Daniela di andare. = I advise Daniela to go. > Le consiglio di andare. = I advise her to go.
- Consiglio a Giulio di partire. = I advise Giulio to leave. > Gli consiglio di partire. = I advise him to leave.
- Consiglio a Daniela e Giulio di mangiare. = I advise Daniela and Giulio to eat. > Gli consiglio di mangiare. = I advise them to eat.
In addition to consigliare, we also have the reflexive consigliarsi, which means to ask / seek advice or to consult. In this case, you need to use the preposition con (with) followed by the person from whom you are seeking advice.
- io mi consiglio (con) = I seek advice
- tu ti consigli (con) = you seek advice
- lui / lei si consiglia (con) = he/she seeks advice
- Lei si consiglia (con) = you seek advice (formal)
- noi ci consigliamo (con) = we seek advice
- voi vi consigliate (con) = you all seek advice
- loro si consigliano (con) = they seek advice
Mi consiglierò con il mio medico.
I will consult with my doctor.
At this point, you might be asking yourself: what is the difference between consigliare and raccomandare? Don’t they both translate as to recommend?
While this is true, there is a subtle difference between the two verbs.
Whereas consigliare is the everyday verb used to offer an opinion, suggestion, or a helpful tip, racommandare carries a more urgent or authoritative weight, often implying some sort of necessity, safety warning, or a strong push rather than a casual preference. Compare the following examples:
- Ti consiglio questa pizza – è buonissima! = I suggest this pizza – it’s so good!
- Ti raccomando di prendere la medicina. = I strongly urge you to take this medicine.
Racommandare also appears in the very common expression Mi raccomando! which is used as a fixed exclamation to urge caution, care, or responsibility. For example:
- Mi raccomando, torna prima della mezzanotte! = Please come back before midnight! / Make sure you come back before midnight!
English speakers often overuse raccomandare because it sounds just like to recommend, whereas native Italian speakers almost always prefer consigliare for everyday suggestions.
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.
