How to Say “To Eat” in Italian – Mangiare

Eating in Italy is so much more than just ingesting food. It is about friends, family, generosity, being with the people you love, sharing happiness and creating important moments together. It is a celebration of the ordinary around a table of good food.

One of my fondest memories of eating in Italy is from a dinner following a funeral. I know, it sounds odd, but bear with me. A relative had recently passed away, so we drove to nearby Vercelli (one hour away from Turin) to pay our respects in the morning. It was a hot and humid summer’s day and between the heat and the sadness that filled the air, we were pretty exhausted by noon.

The family invited us to stay for lunch and we ended up in this tiny village with one restaurant, the only business I could spot on an otherwise deserted street. They put tables out, cooked panissa (a local rice recipe) and poured out some red wine. The tears of the morning were replaced by smiles and laughs in what became a vibrant and cheerful day. Everybody, including the son whose mum had just passed away, was laughing and having a good time. We were celebrating that person’s life rather than mourning her death. I can’t think of a more authentic example to describe what eating means to Italians.

To eat in Italian translates to mangiare which, just like English, refers to the act of consuming food as well as chewing and swallowing.

Conjugation of “to eat” in Italian

The verb mangiare conjugates in the following way in the present tense:

• Io mangio = I eat
• Tu mangi = you eat
• Lui/Lei mangia = He/she eats
• Noi mangiamo = we eat
• Voi mangiate = you (plural) eat
• Loro mangiano = they eat

*Note: In Italian, you can often omit the subject because the conjugated verb already tells you what it is.

If you want to talk about something you’ve eaten (present perfect) or ate (simple past), you can use the passato prossimo. With mangiare, you must conjugate the verb to have (avere) and add the participio passato (past participle) of mangiare which is mangiato:

• Io ho mangiato = I have eaten / I ate
• Tu hai mangiato = You have eaten / You ate
• Lui ha mangiato = He has eaten / He ate
• Lei ha mangiato = She has eaten / She ate
• Noi abbiamo mangiato = We have eaten / We ate
• Voi avete mangiato = You (plural) have eaten / You (plural) ate
• Loro hanno mangiato = They have eaten / They ate

If you want to say that someone has eaten a lot, you can add adverbs such as tanto (a lot) or troppo (too much) after the verb:

• Ha mangiato tanto. = He has eaten a lot. / He ate a lot.
• Ha mangiato troppo. = He has eaten too much. / He ate too much.

If you want to tease someone about the fact that they eat a lot in a jocular way, you can say:

You can use other verbs and idioms to describe a big appetite, such as:

• Divorare = to devour
• Abbuffarsi / ingozzarsi = to stuff yourself
• Riempirsi la pancia / la bocca = to stuff yourself (lit. to fill your stomach / mouth)
• Mangiare come un maiale = to eat like a pig
• Mangiare per due / quattro = to eat a lot (lit. to eat for two / four people)
• Mangiare come un re = to eat very high quality food (lit. to eat like a king)

To say that you’re eating in or out, you can use the following expressions:

• mangiare a casa = to eat in
• mangiare fuori = to eat out

You can use the verb mangiare as a friendly way of reassuring someone:

Mangiare can also become a noun – mangiata or the variation magnata – both of which describe the act of eating a lot. One way of translating it into English is hearty meal.

The Italian meals of the day

Eating is such an important part of Italian culture that the day can be divided into the various acts of eating. If you want to become a true Italian, this is how you need to organise your day:

• colazione = breakfast
• spuntino = light meal, nibble
• pranzo = lunch
• merenda = snack (tea break in the UK)
• aperitivo = aperitif*
• cena = dinner, supper (also tea in the UK)
• spuntino di mezzanotte = midnight snack

*Trivia: in Turin, my hometown, the aperitivo is a very popular alternative to an evening meal, where drinks are accompanied by a rich buffet. It is also called apericena, the fusion of the words aperitivo and cena.

Idioms and other meanings

Mangiare can be used in a figurative way to describe for example an object that consumes a lot or has been corroded/wasted.

There are many idioms based on the verb mangiare, just as eat is used in English in various figurative forms. Here are some of the most interesting:

Mathieu Gasquet

Mathieu Gasquet was born and raised in Turin in the north of Italy to an Italian mother and a French father. He provides the audio pronunciation for Daily Italian Words.