Svolgere is yet another verb starting with S, meaning there is likely a verb without the S, at its roots.
The use of the "prefix" S to give a word the opposite meaning is a common Italian phenomenon. It comes up frequently (see, for example this lesson). There is no fool-proof "rule," but knowing about the S-prefix can often give us a clue about a word. If we try a search of the word without the S, we might gain a deeper understanding of the word. Sometimes the S provides a different slant on a word, and isn't necessarily a negation or an opposite.
So if we look up volgere, we find that it does exist. We just don't use it very often in everyday conversation. Svolgere, on the other hand, is very common, but it's not easy to guess its meaning.
Let's take a closer look.
When the verb is in its non-reflexive form it can be translated as "to carry out," "to conduct," "to do," or "to perform." It's transitive. We use it a lot when the question is, "What does it do?" or "What do you do (as a job)?"
Ha una capacità di memoria elevatissima; può svolgere la stessa funzione di cinquemila calcolatori meccanici messi insieme, ma in un tempo infinitamente più breve.
It has a very high memory capacity; it can perform the same function as five thousand mechanical calculators put together, but in an infinitely shorter time.
Captions 3-5, Adriano Olivetti La forza di un sogno Ep.2 - Part 19
Play Caption
Ci troviamo nel centro tartarughe WWF di Lampedusa, fa parte del progetto italiano del WWF, che svolge attività di conservazione sulle tartarughe marine,
We are at the WWF center in Lampedusa, it's part of the Italian WWF project, which conducts work on conserving sea turtles
Captions 36-38, WWF Italia Progetto tartarughe - Part 1
Play Caption
Espressione del lavoro di ricerca che svolgono durante il loro soggiorno romano.
An expression of the research work they carry out during their stay in Rome.
Caption 10, Villa Medici L'arca della bellezza - Part 4
Play Caption
When we use the reflexive form of the verb, we often translate it as "to take place." We could also say "to unfold" in certain contexts. The reflexive form is intransitive.
Una parte del film si svolge qua dove sembra veramente che il passato e il futuro siano coesistenti.
One part of the film takes place here where it really seems that the past and the future coexist.
Captions 34-35, Fratelli Taviani La passione e l'utopia - Part 6
Play Caption
The reflexive form svolgersi, is extremely common, but not all that easy to guess at, since it's not a cognate... or is it?
If we look up the etymology of the verb svolgere, we do find volgere, but another, archaic, version of volgere — volvere, no longer in use, is mentioned as well. And if we try hard, we can see the verb "to evolve" as a sort of cognate. If we think of the verb svolgersi as something like, "to evolve," it might help us remember it.
How does this story evolve? Come si svolge questa storia?
If we look at the conjugation chart of the verb svolgere and we look at the conjugation chart of the verb svoltare (to change directions, to turn) there are some similarities, so this can be a bit confusing.
Both the non-reflexive and the reflexive form of the verb svolgere can mean "to unfold." So they intersect in a way. But we should just keep in mind that the non-reflexive form is transitive (it takes a direct object) and the reflexive form is intransitive (you won't find a direct object after it).
If you do a search of svolgere, and svolgersi on the Yabla videos page, you will have an overview of how these verbs are used. If you then go to the transcript for a given video where the word is used and hit command or control F to search the word there, you'll see the larger context, together with the English translation. You will see that the translation isn't consistent. Sometimes it's tricky to find the right word, since there really isn't a good, reliable English cognate.
Certainly, the two forms of svolgere are great verbs to have in your toolbox. If you pay attention, you will start hearing both of them a great deal. And now you know what they mean!
In two recent Yabla videos, we see and hear the verb recuperare and its noun form il recupero. We have an English cognate for this, “to recuperate,” but the Italian recuperare is about much more than getting well after an illness or injury! In English we also have “to recoup” which corresponds a bit more closely to the verb recuperare: to get something back that was lost. Recupero password (retrieve password) is often seen on internet sites. In English we just say “Forgot your password?”
Let’s mention once and for all that there are two spellings for this word: recuperare and ricuperare. They are both correct. People seem to use recuperare more often, however. In Italian, what you see is what you get, as far as pronunciation goes, so just say it like you see it!
Going beyond the spelling, we see that recuperare is a transitive verb, meaning it normally has an object connected with it. In English “recuperate” is an intransitive verb: “I was recuperating after a long illness.” In a recent video about turtles, the verb recuperare is employed to mean “to rescue.”
Innanzitutto, abbiamo una rete di gruppi di lavoro
First and foremost, we have a network of work groups
e di centri di recupero lungo le coste italiane,
and rescue centers along the Italian coasts,
che si occupano di recuperare gli animali spiaggiati
that take care of rescuing the beached animals
e trovati feriti dai pescatori
and those found wounded by fishermen,
e di portarli in centro di recupero
and bringing them to the rescue centers
dove vengono curati e rilasciati in mare.
where they are treated and released back to the sea.
Captions 52-57, WWF Italia - Progetto tartarughe
Play Caption
Recuperare also means “to catch up,” for example in class, when you have been home, sick. If you are the teacher, or a private student, you make up the lesson by scheduling una lezione di recupero, and if you are the student you study extra hard: recuperi (you get caught up).
In sports, we talk about “recovery,” and that’s when Italians use the word recupero. It’s what you do when you’ve finished your workout, or what you do after a race or a work interval in a workout. Il recupero. If your activity app is in Italian, you will find this word in just about every workout you do!
Near the end of the movie L’oro di Scampia, Toni is in the thick of his Olympic match, but he stops to catch his breath before finishing up. The sports commentator observes:
È giusto riprendere fiato, recuperare.
It's right to catch one's breath, to recover.
Caption 68, L'oro di Scampia - film
Play Caption
And here’s an example of the formal imperative (which is actually the third person subjunctive) of recuperare to mean “to retrieve,” “to recover.” The mattress in question may be floating away!
Qualcuno recuperi il materassino.
Someone recover the air mattress.
Caption 6, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP10 - Un morto di troppo
Play Caption
Spanish
French
German
Chinese
English
English 
Español
Français
Deutsch
Italiano
