Have you ever found yourself racking your brains trying to find the answer to a problem? Then today’s verb is for you!
Scervellarsi (to rack one’s brains) is made up of the noun cervello (brain) and the prefix s- which in this case denotes the absence or loss of something.
About the pronunciation
The combination of s and c, sc, is usually pronounced ʃ in Italian, but in rare cases like this one, it is also acceptable to pronounce the s in isolation from the c (sʧ).
Since scervellarsi is a regular -are verb, it is quite easy to conjugate. Just keep in mind that it is also a pronominal verb, so you must include the pronominal particle (mi, ti, si, etc.). Here is the full conjugation in the present indicative tense:
(io) mi scervello
I rack my brains
(tu) ti scervelli
you (informal) rack your brains
(lui / lei / Lei) si scervella
he/she racks her brains
you (formal) rack your brain
(noi) ci scervelliamo
we rack our brains
(voi) vi scervellate
you (plural) rack your brains
(loro) si scervellano
they rack their brains
Sono giorni che mi scervello per trovare una soluzione!
I’ve been racking my brains for days to find a solution!
Scervellarsi can also mean to tire one’s brain out with, for example, very demanding work.
Marco si sta scervellando sui libri per prepararsi all’esame. È molto provato.
Marco is studying really hard to prepare for the exam. He’s very tired.
There is a surprising number of idiomatic synonyms for this verb, including:
- lambiccarsi il cervello = lit: to distil one’s brain
- stillarsi il cervello = lit. to distil one’s brain
- spremere le meningi = lit. to squeeze one’s meninges
- rompersi il capo / la testa = lit. to break one’s head
- affaticarsi il cervello = lit. to wear one’s brain out
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.
