The adjective urgente is pretty easy to figure out. It means "urgent" and it's an important word to know. And when you need that word, the situation is usually dire, and urgency is needed. You might need something urgently. But how do we express these in Italian? There are ways that line up with English and ways that don't. Let's take a look, with clips from Yabla videos as examples you can see and hear. 

Adjective: urgente

Mi scusi l'insistenza, ma è urgente.

Sorry for my insistence, but it's urgent.

Caption 74, Imma Tataranni Sostituto procuratore S1 EP 4 Maltempo - Part 2

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Adverb: urgentemente

The adverb urgentemente (urgently) does exist and is used.

La mamma del bambino Luigi è desiderata urgentemente al bar.

The mom of the child Luigi is urgently needed at the bar.

Caption 1, Ma che ci faccio qui! Un film di Francesco Amato - Part 4

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Noun: l'urgenza

But let's look at the noun l'urgenza (the urgency). It's quite common to "have urgency" or do something "with urgency," rather than using the adverb urgentemente, as we can see in the following examples.

E va portata con urgenza in sala operatoria. Andate.

And she must be urgently taken to the operating room. Go.

Caption 11, Moscati, l'amore che guarisce EP1 - Part 14

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Allora, signora, aveva urgenza di vedermi?

So, Ma'am, you wanted to see me urgently?

Caption 1, I Bastardi di Pizzofalcone EP 3 Vicini - Part 13

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Verb: urgere

A verb form exists as well in Italian, though it's not used all that much. But in a recent segment of Provaci ancora Prof!, Renzo uses it (likely to be eruditely witty), so we're taking the opportunity to look at it here. The verb is urgere from the Latin "urgens".

Scusate, scusate, scusate, perché urge un brindisi alla mia suocera preferita e, soprattutto, al suo profiterole.

Excuse me, excuse me, excuse me, because it's urgent to make a toast to my favorite mother-in-law and above all, to her profiteroles.

Captions 25-27, Provaci ancora prof! S2E6 La strana ossessione - Part 18

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More common alternative verbs to urgere

Although urgere  has two different meanings depending on whether it's used transitively or not, its most common use is the intransitive one, which has to do with "being necessary" (urgently necessary), as in the example above. It's much more common to use the verb bisognare. 

Renzo could easily have said:

Bisogna assolutamente fare un brindisi a... (it's absolutely necessary to drink a toast to...)

**Note that bisognare is an unusual verb used only in the third-person singular bisogna. It's followed by either a verb in the infinitive or the conjunction che, triggering the subjunctive form of another verb. For more on using the verb bisognare see this Yabla lesson. 

He could also have used still other turns of phrase:

Serve un brindisi... (there is need of a toast)

Dobbiamo fare un brindisi (we have to drink a toast to...)

Ci vuole assolutamente un brindisi (there's an absolute need for a toast)

The use of urgere makes it urgent and Renzo wants to get it over with, for sure, although he would never say so. He also might be implying: It's about time.

Origins of urgente

Language nerds might be interested to know (if they haven't figured it out already) that the adjective urgente is actually (or originally) the present participle of the verb urgere. There are a great many present participles of verbs used as adjectives. They always end in -ante or -ente in the singular and -anti or -enti in the plural. For more about this verb form/adjective form, see this Yabla lesson. 

We hope we have given you some tools for expressing urgency in various ways, should the need arise when speaking Italian!

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What's the difference between giorno and giornata? They both refer to "day." To start off with, we can say that one difference is that un giorno is 24 hours. But una giornata is roughly from dawn to dusk. In some cases, giorno and giornata can be used interchangeably, but let's look at the ways we generally use one or the other.

It might also be helpful to think of giorno as rather static and giornata as something in motion, or progressing.

Since we have to greet people most days, it's good to mention buongiorno, which actually means "good morning," as a greeting. We use it up to lunchtime, or noon, to be more precise. After that it's buonasera (good afternoon, good evening).

Buongiorno, signora Caterina.

Good morning, Missus Caterina.

Caption 58, Il Commissario Manara S1EP3 - Rapsodia in Blu - Part 3

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Let's keep in mind that, used as a greeting, buongiorno is one word. 

For more about greetings, check out this lesson 

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If we say buona giornata, we are saying, "Have a nice day." I hope your day goes well. It's kind of a progressive thing, thinking ahead to the day. We say it when we are leaving or when someone else is leaving. 

Va bene. -Buona giornata. Buona cavalcata. -Buona cavalcata. Buona giornata e buon lavoro. -Grazie.

All right. -Have a nice day. Have a nice ride. -Have a nice ride. Have a nice day, and good luck with your work. -Thank you.

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We can replace giornata with another -ata word: if we want to wish someone a good ride (on horseback) as in the example above, or, if they are taking a walk, we can say buona passeggiata. 

Let's look at other situations in which we will want to use giornata, not giorno,  or vice versa. It may be helpful to think of giornata as the progression of the day towards night. 

Let's say you are waiting for a package.

The corriere (the shipping company) says:

Il pacchetto sarà consegnato in giornata. This means the package will be delivered anytime before the end of the day.

If it's going to arrive before lunchtime, they might say arriverà in mattinata.

When you get off work, and you are thinking about what a difficult (or fantastic) day you have had, you can say:

Che giornata (what a day)!

But then, you might use a mix of giornata and giorno. The important thing is to remember that giorno is a masculine noun and giornata is a feminine noun. 

You can say:

Ho lavorato tutto il giorno (I worked all day).

You can also say:

Ho lavorato tutta la giornata (I worked all day).

It kind of depends on what you are thinking or visualizing. They are both correct. Google says tutto il giorno is more common.

When we are talking about the weather, we'll usually use giornata.

Oggi è una bellissima giornata, un po' fredda,

Today, it's such a beautiful day, a bit cold,

Caption 4, Professioni e mestieri Erica - archeologa - Part 2

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When describing the day, especially in a personal way, we use giornata:

Ti sto rovinando la giornata, scusami.

I'm wrecking your day, forgive me.

Caption 14, Provaci ancora prof! S1E4 - La mia compagna di banco - Part 7

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If I ask you how your day went, I might say?

Come'è andata la giornata (how did your day go, how was your day)?

When we're talking about a length of time, then it's usually giornata. In some cases, we can talk about una mezza giornata (a half day')

La prego, solo mezza giornata.

Please, just half a day.

Caption 19, Ma che ci faccio qui! Un film di Francesco Amato - Part 4

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While we tend to use giorno for birthdays and the days of the week (we think of the calendar), giornata is more common for describing special commemorative occasions or major historical events, for example, Giornata mondiale della pace (International peace day). It's connected with the activity.

If you have questions about giorno and giornata, please let us know and we'll expand this lesson.