Have you ever had someone ask you a question, only to blank out completely even though you know the answer? I know I have!
If you’re faced with this situation in Italian, you can always fall back on the response « Non mi ricordo » which quite literally means « I can’t remember ».
However if you are keen on trying something a little more idiomatic, you can also say:
Non mi viene in mente.
I can’t think / remember.
(Literally: It doesn’t come to mind.)
Non mi viene in mente il nome di quel paese.
I can’t think of / remember that town’s name.
Non mi viene mai in mente di chiedertelo.
I never think to ask you.
It comes from the expression venire in mente which means to occur to, to come to mind or to recall.
If you add the words niente or nulla (nothing) onto the end of non mi viene in mente, the meaning becomes « I can’t think of anything » or « Nothing comes to mind ».
Non mi viene in mente niente.
I can’t think of anything. / Nothing comes to mind.
Quite often, the expression is shortened to non mi viene without the addition of in mente.
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.
