When you're wrong you're wrong. There are various Italian words connected with being wrong or making a mistake. Let's look at the various ways to be wrong and the nuances that set them apart.
Fare un errore. This works fine when you need a noun. If you have trouble with rolling your r's, this word can be a challenge.
Fai errore dopo errore.
You make mistake after mistake.
Caption 53, Stai lontana da me - Rai Cinema
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The verb sbagliare (to make a mistake) plus reflexive form sbagliarsi (to be mistaken), and its noun form lo sbaglio (the mistake, the error) are very common.
Io c'entro, c'entro eccome, perché lei è una mia allieva.
I'm involved, I'm absolutely involved because she's my student.
E se lei sbaglia, vuol dire che anche io ho sbagliato qualcosa con lei.
And if she makes a mistake, it means that I also made a mistake with her.
Captions 46-47, Provaci Ancora Prof! - S1E1 - Il regalo di Babbo Natale
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There's a fine line between the normal verb and its reflexive form. One reason for this is that sbagliare as a normal verb can either be transitive or intransitive.
Ho sbagliato strada (I took the wrong route, I went the wrong way).
Ho sbagliato (I made a mistake, I made a wrong move, I did something wrong).
Sbagliare è umano (making mistakes is human).
Tutti sbagliano (everyone makes mistakes).
Piove, o sbaglio (It's raining, or am I mistaken)?
The reflexive form sbagliarsi, tends to be more about being wrong than making a mistake — a bit less active, we could say — and the sentence structure changes as well. The reflexive form is intransitive, so we need a preposition between the verb and the indirect object. As a result, it's a bit more complicated to use.
Mi sono sbagliato (I was wrong, I was mistaken).
Mi sbaglio o sta piovendo (am I mistaken or is it raining)?
In the following example, the preposition is a (to) and rather than "being wrong," it's "going wrong."
Mi creda, a puntare sul pesce non si sbaglia mai.
Believe me. With fish you can never go wrong.
Caption 2, La Ladra - Ep. 6 - Nero di rabbia - Part 1
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This is a great expression to have in your collection:
Non si sbaglia mai (one can't go wrong).
Non ti puoi sbagliare (you can't go wrong).
As you watch Yabla videos, you will see countless instances of sbagliare, sbagliarsi and lo sbaglio. See if you can sense when people use one or the other. In many cases, there are multiple possibilities.
Some of us may recognize the cognate: "tort." When you study law, one course you take is "torts." In English a tort is simply a civil wrong.
How to use the Italian noun torto, however, is a different story.
In a recent episode of Sposami, a divorcing couple is forced to get along and work together, even though they can't stand each other. But each of them wants to keep the dog, and therefore they each have to be on their best behavior. They go crying to their divorce lawyer each time the other does something wrong. And in one such conversation, the word torto comes up.
Ugo, cerca di essere collaborativo,
Ugo, try to be collaborative,
se no, tu capisci, mi passi dalla parte del torto.
otherwise, you understand, you'll end up being in the wrong.
Captions 68-69, Sposami - EP 1
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So this is a lawyer talking, but we also use torto or its plural torti in everyday conversation. A son is complaining to his mother, and her boyfriend chimes in:
A ma' [mamma], ti prego.
Oh Mom, please.
Ce tratti come du [romanesco: ci tratti come due] ragazzini!
You treat us like a couple of little kids!
-Va be', non ha tutti i torti.
-Well, he's not totally wrong.
Io alla loro età, nemmeno lo chiedevo più il permesso.
At their age, I no longer even asked for permission.
Captions 69-72, La Ladra - Ep. 7 - Il piccolo ladro - Part 2
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Here are some other expressions with torti. Remember that we use the verb avere (to have) in this expression.
Avere torto (to be wrong).
With all these word choices for making mistakes and being wrong, non ti puoi sbagliare!
The adjective "free" in English means several things, so when you're wondering how to translate it, you may have to stop and think. So let's have a look at some of the different ways to say "free" in Italian.
The first way we translate the adjective "free" is with libero. Think of the word "liberty" as meaning "freedom," and you'll be all set.
Nel tempo libero mi piace uscire con i miei amici.
In my free time, I like to go out with my friends.
Caption 38, Erica - si presenta
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One occasion in which you'll need this word is when looking for a seat on a train. You can simply ask, while using a gesture:
È libero (Is it free)?
È libero questo posto/quel posto (Is this/that seat free)?
Tip: Learn to use questo and quello in this week's lesson with Daniela!
Do you know the opposite of libero in this case?
Questo posto è occupato (This seat is occupied).
No, è occupato (No, it's occupied).
We also use libero to talk about ourselves. In this case the person in question is a girl or a woman.
Sei libera venderdì sera (Are you free Friday night)?
Si, sono libera (Yes, I'm free).
Mi dispiace, sono occupata (Sorry, I'm busy).
An adjective that's close to "free" in this sense is "available." It translates as disponibile. If you look at the context in the following example, both libero and free would also work. Disponibile is a handy, very useful word to know, as it is extremely common in everyday conversation.
L'unico tavolo sotto la cassa sei riuscito a trovarlo tu!
You succeeded in getting the only table right under the loudspeaker!
-Per favore, per favore!
-Please, please!
Ho prenotato, l'unico disponibile era questo. Che vuoi da me?
I reserved, the only one available was this one. What do you want from me?
Captions 12-14, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP7 - Sogni di Vetro
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A completely different meaning of "free" is that of not costing anything. There are two closely related ways to say this in Italian:
Gratis and gratuito. They are interchangeable. Gratis comes directly from the Latin, meaning "grace," "favor."
Ma se fosse per me, lo sport dovrebbe essere gratis per tutti.
But if it were up to me, sports should be free for everyone.
Ma la palestra costa.
But the gym costs money.
Captions 41-42, L'oro di Scampia - film - Part 3
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Gratuito is Italian, and is a common choice when it comes after to the noun it modifies, as in the following example.
Ma oggi c'è il Wi-Fi gratuito dappertutto,
But today there's free wi-fi everywhere,
per cui è un posto che si può assolutamente vivere quotidianamente
so it's a place one can absolutely experience on a daily basis,
anche nel ventesimo secolo, anzi ventunesimo.
even in the twentieth, or rather twenty-first century.
Captions 22-24, Anna e Marika - Villa Torlonia - Casino Nobile
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Fun fact: gratuito can be pronounced correctly with the accent on either the u or the i. You'll probably find more people who place the accent on the u, but it's not wrong the other way.
Another important translation of "free," when it means something you don't pay for, is omaggio.
The cognate of omaggio, as a noun, is "homage," and in fact omaggio is also used to mean "homage." But it is also used to mean a free sample, or free gift. The shopkeeper is paying you homage by giving you a gift!
Dimenticavo che mi hanno portato quattro biglietti omaggio per dei massaggi, interessa?
I almost forgot: Someone brought me four free coupons for some massages. Interested?
Caption 36, La Ladra - Ep. 6 - Nero di rabbia
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Omaggio can be used as an adjective (that doesn't change with gender and number) as in the previous example.
Otherwise, omaggio is a noun that means "complimentary gift."
When you get a free gift at the checkout counter, a shopkeeper or cashier might simply say un omaggio.
Lastly, "free" can be translated as senza (without), as in "gluten-free" or "sugar-free."
Questi biscotti sono senza zucchero, senza glutine e senza grassi.
This cookies are sugar-free, gluten-free, and fat-free.
See you in the next lesson! Alla prossima!
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