The word comportamento in Italian generally translates as behaviour or conduct in English. It comes from the verbs comportare (to entail) and comportarsi (to behave / react).
Comportamento is a masculine noun, whose plural form is comportamenti.
il comportamento
the behaviour
un comportamento
a behaviour
i comportamenti
the behaviours
dei comportamenti
(some) behaviours
Some common types of behaviour include:
- buon comportamento = good behaviour
- comportamento tipico = normal behaviour
- comportamento corretto = proper behaviour
- comportamento educato = good manners
- cattivo comportamento = bad behaviour
- pessimo comportamento = bad behaviour
- comportamento strano = strange behaviour
- comportamento violento = violent behaviour
Questo tipo di comportamento è normale per un bambino della sua età.
This type of behaviour is normal for a child his age.
The verb comportarsi is often used as well. The English expression Behave yourself! can be translated as Comportati bene!
Comportati bene con la nonna, mi raccomando!
Behave yourself with grandma, please!
As in English, the word comportamento can be used to describe the reaction of a substance subjected to tests or changes of a physical or chemical nature. For example:
Sono state eseguite diverse simulazioni al fine di osservare il comportamento del materiale nello spazio.
Various simulations were performed in order to observe the behaviour of the substance in space.
The word also extends to the field of psychology, as can be seen in the terms la scienza del comportamento (behavioural science) and la terapia del comportamento (behaviour therapy).
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.
