Today we will be talking about visto che, a very useful Italian conjunction that can be translated in numerous ways, including:
- since
- given that
- seeing that
- considering that
- because
- in view of the fact that
Visto che introduces a causal clause (a clause that expresses the reason of the main clause) with the verb in the indicative mood, not the subjunctive.
Visto che era stanco, l’ho messo a dormire subito dopo cena.
Since he was tired, I put him to sleep right after supper.
When referring directly to a noun, visto should be used without che, but keep in mind that in that instance, it becomes an adjective and therefore must correspond in gender and number to the noun. For example:
- Visto il risultato… = Given the result…
- Visti i prezzi… = Given the prices…
- Vista la fatica… = Given the effort…
- Viste le difficoltà… = Given the difficulties…
Sono abbastanza soddisfatto del risultato viste le difficoltà che abbiamo incontrato.
I am quite satisfied with the result given the difficulties we encountered.
Sometimes you may hear the colloquial expression visto e considerato che which literally means “seeing and considering that”.
Some common synonyms for visto che include:
- dato che
- siccome
- considerato che
- giacché
- poiché
- in quanto
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.
