Are you confused about confondere?

By Sigrid Lee

In a previous lesson, we talked about votare, a verb that has an additional meaning we rarely think of. Another verb that can bring some surprises (and confusion) is confondere (to confuse, to confound). If we think about it, we can break down confondere into two pieces. Fondere is "to melt," "to meld"; con is “with.” Thoughts, sensations, or things mix together and become unclear. We can no longer distinguish or understand individual elements.

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The English verbs "to confuse" and "to confound" clearly have the same root: And we can also see "to fuse" and "fusion" in the noun "confusion." And we now know that con means "with." You might never think of the word "confusion" the same way again.

The cognate confusione exists in Italian. Sometimes it's equivalent to the English "confusion."

Perciò quando i soggetti sono diversi, questo potrebbe portare un po' di confusione.

So when the subjects are different, this could bring about a bit of confusion.

Captions 25-26, Corso di italiano con Daniela 3) Proposizioni subordinate finali - Part 2
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But often confusione means something more akin to "chaos" "fuss," "mess," or "commotion."

E, soprattutto, nella confusione nessuno si accorgerebbe di nulla.

And above all, in the chaos, nobody would notice anything.

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Lupo ha detto che c'aspetta in palestra e poi era troppa confusione per lui.

Lupo said he'd be waiting for us at the gym and besides, it was too much commotion for him.

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Knowing these little connections may help you find the words when you need them, or at least recognize them when you see them. Or you might just enjoy being aware of the connections (or you might not care at all).

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We often translate confondere as "to mix up."

The verb confondere can be used as a normal transitive verb: to confuse.

Tu mi sa che confondi la cocaina con l'aspirina.

I think you are confusing cocaine with aspirin.

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The same past participle, confuso, can mean "confused." We can use the past participle of confondere as an adjective when we are confused — confuso. The ending has to agree in gender and number with what or who is being described.

Sei confusa, addolorata, ma lo sai che lui ti merita.

You're confused, aggrieved, but you know that he deserves you.

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When we get confused or mixed up, it's a process, and we go the reflexive route with the reflexive form of the verb: confondersi.

Sì, sì, è probabile, perché i nomi sono molto simili, Renzo, Gaetano... uno si può confondere.

Yes, yes. That's likely, because the names are very similar, Renzo, Gaetano... someone can get mixed up.

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...e se di me non parlo e non mi ascolto, succede che poi mi confondo.

...and if I don't talk about myself and I don't listen to myself, it happens that then I get confused.

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There's an expression in Italian: confondere le acque (to muddy the water). In this case, you are not confused, but you are making something confusing on purpose. Here, confuso can be translated as "confusing."

Hanno fatto un racconto un po' confuso.

They gave a somewhat confusing account.

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When we use the passato prossimo (which works like the present perfect), the past participle is the same as the adjective form, but the verb essere (to be) is present, too, as well as the reflexive pronoun, as opposed to a subject pronoun.

Che fai, parli ternano pure tu, adesso? -Perché mi so' [sono] confuso,

What are you doing? Are you talking Terni-ese, too, now? -Because I got confused,

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So if I want to say, "You got confused," I would say, "Ti sei confuso/a".

When, in La Ladra, Eva uses the verb to talk about a spice she can’t distinguish, she uses the verb confondere but she might have meant confondersi, which can also mean "to blend in." If we want a transitive verb as a translation, "muddle" might work, too.

C'è una spezia che confonde il quadro di insieme, non so, non riesco a percepirla.

There's a spice that muddles the whole picture. I don't know, I can't manage to perceive it.

There's a spice that makes the whole picture confusing, I don't know, I'm not able to perceive it.

There's a spice that blends in with the whole picture, I don't know, I'm not able to perceive it.

Caption 32, La Ladra EP. 1 - Le cose cambiano - Part 3
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