We can combine two very common verbs into one expression that means "to get busy" or "to work hard." The expression is darsi da fare. We can detect a reflexive ending on the verb dare (to give) with darsi. If we think about it in the first person, it's, "I give myself." What do I give myself? Da fare (stuff to do).
If I am busy and can't talk to you right now, I might say, Ho da fare (I have stuff to do, I am busy).
Ho detto: "Senta, scusi, eh... io c'ho [ho] da fare, è tardissimo, -Mh.
I said, "Listen, I'm sorry, uh... I'm busy, it's really late," -hmm.
Caption 48, Francesca e Marika Gestualità
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But if you are giving yourself stuff to do, with the verb dare (to give) it's more active.
Mi do da fare (I keep myself busy, I work hard).
If we are talking about someone else who works hard in general, we might say:
Si dà da fare (he/she works hard).
Note the accent we place on the third person singular of the verb dare to distinguish it from da, the preposition meaning "of," "to," or "from."
We also use this expression in a command form when we want someone to get to work, to do something, or to get something done.
Datti da fare! (Get to work!, Do something! Get on it!)
Datti da fare pure tu.
You get on it, too.
Caption 13, Provaci ancora prof! S2E4 L'amica americana - Part 16
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If we are talking to more than one person, it's:
Datevi da fare.
We might be talking to a group we are included in, we'll say:
Diamoci da fare (let's get to work, let's get busy).
If we are being polite or formal to one person, it's:
Si dia da fare.
If we want to be polite to more than one person, we need to go into the third person plural:
Si diano da fare.
Tip: Note that when we are using the polite form, it's the same as the subjunctive third person (check out the conjugation chart). We can mostly get by fine without using this polite form, unless we are working in a place where our Italian-speaking employees are people we address formally.
To conclude, da fare can be part of a longer phrase such as Ho tantissime cose da fare (I have lots of things to do), but da fare can be used by itself to just mean "stuff to do."
Niente is an indispensable word to have in your basic Italian vocabulary. It's a noun, it's a pronoun, it's an adjective, it's an adverb, and it can even be a simple filler word that doesn't mean anything in particular. This highly useful word can mean various things, but they all have some connection with "no," "nothing," or "not."
Let's remember that in Italian, the double negative is totally acceptable. It gets the meaning across! So, as opposed to English, we will often see non and niente in the same sentence expressing something negative. For example:
Pronto? Non sento niente.
Hello? I can't hear anything.
Caption 11, Adriano Olivetti La forza di un sogno Ep.2 - Part 20
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Of course, when we translate, we try to use correct English, so with the presence of non, we avoid a double negative and transform "nothing" into "anything."
We use niente to mean "no" or "not any" before a noun (or verb in the infinitive that is functioning as a noun).
Buoni! -E sì, invece di prendertela col buio, accendi la luce, sennò niente biscotti!
Good! -Oh yes, instead of getting upset with the darkness, turn on the light. Otherwise, no cookies!
Captions 61-62, Dixiland Buio mangiabiscotti
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If we see the little preposition di (of) before the word male (bad), then we're saying "nothing wrong," "not anything bad,"
Allora, insomma, erano un po' preoccupati, ma in realtà non ho fatto niente di male.
So, basically, they were a bit worried, but I didn't actually do anything wrong.
Captions 91-92, Che tempo che fa Raffaella Carrà - Part 3
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But when we have niente followed by male (with no preposition), then it means "not bad." This is an important distinction. Niente male is a wonderful alternative to "great!" We say something similar in English, too.
Anche a me sono successe un paio di disavventure niente male!
I also had a couple of things happen to me that weren't bad at all [pretty incredible]!
Caption 56, Francesca e Marika Gestualità
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In Italian, we can either say non male (not bad) or niente male (not bad at all), which is a bit stronger towards the positive end of the spectrum.
One way to say, "nothing at all," is niente di niente.
No, no, io non ho sentito niente, niente di niente.
No, no, I didn't hear anything — nothing at all.
Caption 18, La Ladra EP. 6 - Nero di rabbia - Part 8
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Another way to say "nothing at all" is un bel niente.
No, abbiamo un caso di suicidio e stiamo ce'... -Abbiamo, abbiamo. Lei non ha un bel niente, Manara, finché non l'autorizzo io, ha capito?
No, we have a case of suicide and we're lo'... -We have, we have. You have a big nothing Manara, until I authorize it, understand?
Captions 24-25, Il Commissario Manara S1EP1 - Un delitto perfetto - Part 3
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But to say, "not at all," it's per niente.
E a me non piacciono per niente.
And I don't like them at all.
Caption 43, Volare - La grande storia di Domenico Modugno Ep. 1 - Part 15
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OK, e niente, avevo portato qualcosa da mangiare,
OK, and nothing more. I had brought something to eat,
Caption 7, Il Commissario Manara S2EP1 - Matrimonio con delitto - Part 4
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We translated niente here as "nothing more," but actually, it could mean something like "that's all."
There are undoubtedly other ways to use niente, such as:
Fa niente (it doesn't matter).
Di niente (you're welcome, don't mention it).
Non ho capito niente (I didn't understand anything).
Keep your eyes and ears open for the word niente as you watch Yabla videos, or any other videos. It's really all over the place!
This week, Anna and Marika finish explaining how to make pesto, the delicious Ligurian pasta specialty.
In part 1, they talked about why pesto is called pesto.
Pesto vuol dire che è stato pestato.
"Pesto" means that it has been crushed.
Caption 68, L'Italia a tavola - Il pesto genovese
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The cooks also use two other verbs that have to do with breaking something down into smaller pieces. Let's look at each of these three words to see when we use them, and what the differences are among them.
Let's start with the word that gives its name to the dish. Pestare is the verb: to crush, to mash, to pound. We carry out this action when tenderizing meat, or when stepping on someone's toes.
Oh, scusami, t'ho pestato il piede.
Oh, sorry, I stepped on your foot.
Pestare is the action someone or something carries out in order to crush something. Except for when it's someone's toes, we might think of a repeated action, such as in making pesto the old-fashioned way. Just keep pounding to break the material down little by little.
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A relative of pestare is calpestare (to tromp on, to trample, to step on), specific to using one's feet. You might see a sign that says:
Non calpestare l'erba
Do not walk on the grass.
In some cities, you really have to look where you put your feet
E... camminando camminando, ciak! Che cosa ti vado a calpestare? Un escremento canino! Bleah! -Una cacca bella fresca fumante!
And... walking along, splat! What do I go and step on? Canine excrement! Yuck! -Nice fresh steaming poop!
Captions 31-34, Francesca e Marika - Gestualità
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Here we might think of the action more than the recipient of the action.
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Schiacciare also means to crush, to smash, or to mash, and here we can visualize the thing we are crushing being crushed.
The classic example is lo sciaccianoce. The nutcracker. One rather violent move, and the thing is cracked or crushed.
You crush a clove of garlic. Lo schiacci. It's less rewarding when it's your finger being crushed.
Mi sono schiacciato il dito nella porta. Aia!
I smashed my finger in the door. Ouch!
Think of something being flattened by a heavy weight.
We can also use schiacciare when pressing a button on a machine.
Schiaccia il bottone rosso per fermarlo (press down on the red button to stop it).
Schiacciare is used figuratively, too.
Allora, signora, suo marito ha una personalità dominante che schiaccia la sua da anni.
So, ma'am, your husband has a dominating personality which has been crushing yours for years.
Captions 4-5, Stai lontana da me - Rai Cinema
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Lastly, we have frantumare. Here, we can visualize a mirror breaking and shattering into pieces or frantumi (fragments, smithereens).
In making olive oil, grindstones crush the olives with their pits.
L'oliva viene frantumata intera.
The olive gets crushed whole.
Caption 23, L'olio extravergine di oliva - Il frantoio
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Anna and Marika use all three of these verbs in their videos about pesto, so check them out! As you replicate the recipe, try using them yourself!
Ora sto pestando questi pinoli (now I am pounding these pine nuts).
Devo fare attenzione a non pestare anche le dita (I have to be careful not to pound my fingers, as well).
Forse sono sufficientemente frantumati (maybe they're fragmented enough).
Se faccio cadere il piatto per terra, si frantumerà! È di porcellana (if I drop this plate on the floor, it will break into pieces. It's porcelain).
L'aglio lo posso schiacciare con un batticarne (I can smash the garlic with a meat mallet).
Devo stare attento a non schiacciarmi le dita (I have to be careful not to crush my fingers).
Italians have a great word that encompasses four of our five senses (all but sight), and covers general sensory perception as well: sentire (to perceive). Marika and Francesca explain and conjugate sentire here. We’re going to talk about taste and smell, because these have to do with the real subject of this newsletter, the verb sapere (to know, or to give an impression, odor, or taste).
To talk about something tasting or smelling good (or bad) in Italian, we have to throw literal translations out the window (because no word really does the trick) and opt for a noun that can be either neutral—odore (odor), sapore (taste), gusto (flavor)—or specific—profumo (fragrance, scent), puzza (stink). The verb we’ll use will be one of two. The first, avere (to have), we use when talking about what tastes or smells good or bad, certainly of utmost importance when choosing a truffle, for example:
Il tartufo deve avere un buon profumo.
The truffle needs to have a good smell.
Caption 76, Tartufo bianco d'Alba - Come sceglierlo e come gustarlo
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Our second option is the all-encompassing sense word, sentire (to perceive), used when talking about our perception of a taste or a smell. Francesca had a smelly encounter with a dog and it came naturally to her to use sentire. It’s clear she’s talking about smell, not taste! She’s afraid she might be giving off a not-so-wonderful odor. Marika and Francesca assure each other:
Però la puzza non si sente. -Non si sente.
But you can't smell the bad smell. -You can't smell it.
Meno male.
Just as well [Good thing].
Captions 84-85, Francesca e Marika - Gestualità
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We’ve been talking about the good or bad quality of a taste or smell. But if we want to describe the taste or smell in even more detail, then we turn to sapere, which, as we discussed in I Have This Feeling... Sapere Part 1, doesn’t always have to do with knowledge.
In this case the subject of the sentence is the food itself, or the situation if we’re speaking figuratively. These scenarios should help you get the idea:
You look in the fridge and open a jar of jam. Ugh!
Questa marmellata sa di muffa.
This jam smells like mold.
You made soup, but something’s not right.
Non sa di niente questa minestra. Ecco perché: Ho dimenticato il sale.
This soup doesn’t have any flavor. Here’s why: I forgot the salt.
You think someone is trying to give you a bum deal on a used car. You say to yourself:
Quest’affare sa di fregatura.
This deal smacks of a ripoff.
Later, when you’ve verified it was a bad deal, you can use the modo di dire from I Have This Feeling... Sapere Part 1 and say:
Mi sa che avevo ragione!
I guess I was right!
To sum up, remember that when sapere means “to know,” there will be a subject that’s a person (or animal), and what it is that the person knows, as a direct object.
Il gatto sa quando è ora di mangiare.
The cat knows when it’s time to eat.
But when sapere has to do with what something tastes or smells like, even figuratively, the subject will be the food or situation, and it will be followed by the preposition di like in the scenarios above.
And let’s not forget the modo di dire, “mi sa che/mi sa di si/no,” discussed in the I Have This Feeling... Sapere Part 1.
Learning suggestion:
Now that you have some new insights on the world of tastes and smells, get a feel for how Italians talk about food by watching or re-watching Yabla videos on the subject. Truffles, wine, risotto, desserts: here’s the list. And if you’re planning on any wine-tasting, you’ll want to visit this quick WordReference thread.
And se te la senti (if you feel up to it)...
This example employs the different meanings of sapere. Can you tell them apart?
Lo sai che ho assaggiato la pomarola, ma sa di acido, quindi mi sa che non la mangerò anche se lo so che non mi amazzerebbe. -Sai che ti dico? Mi sa che fai bene a non mangiarla! Si sa che il cibo avariato fa male. Tutti sanno che la pomarola non deve sapere di acido, dovrebbe avere un buon sapore.
You know I tasted the tomato sauce, but it tasted sour, and so I guess I’m not going to eat it, even though I know it wouldn’t kill me. -You know what I say? I think you’re doing the right thing by not eating it! It’s well known that food gone bad is bad for you. Everyone knows that tomato sauce should not taste sour; it should taste good.
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