We all struggle with lots of things in different ways. In Italian, there's a combination of two words we commonly use for this: fare fatica. Literally, it's "to make effort or exertion." It can mean "to make an effort," but "to struggle" is closer to the idea. Lots of times you make an effort because you are trying hard, and that's when we can use impegnarsi (to make an effort). It's easy to get confused.

Let's look at some examples from Yabla videos of fare fatica. In our first example, the meaning is literal. The speaker has Covid-19!

Faccio fatica ad alzarmi dal letto.

I have a hard time getting out of bed.

Caption 15, Fuori era primavera Viaggio nell'Italia del lockdown - Part 4

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The meaning can be mental, too.  

Fai anche fatica a trovare anche [sic] lavoro.

You also struggle to find work, too.

Caption 17, Benvenuti in Galera Bollate, Milano - Part 17

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When you are trying to understand someone, but you fail or almost, you can say.

Faccio fatica a capire il tuo inglese. Parliamo italiano (I'm having a hard time understanding your English. Let's speak Italian).

When you exert yourself, you can also use the verb faticare (to toil, to labor).

So you could also say,

Fatico a capire il tuo inglese (I struggle to understand your English). 

Il bisnonno credo che lavorasse sulle navi ospedale, durante la guerra, e loro avevano un orto a Procida per cui campavano delle cose dell'orto e hanno faticato sempre a mettere insieme il pranzo.

I think her great-grandfather worked on hospital ships, during the war, and they had a vegetable garden in Procida so they lived on things from the vegetable garden and they always struggled to pull lunch together.

Captions 7-10, Vera e Giuliano Montaldo - Part 5

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banner2 PLACEHOLDER

When you are just trying hard or working hard, then the reflexive verb impegnarsi works well.

Hai visto che quando ti impegni le cose le sai fare?

You see that when you make an effort, you are able to do things?

Caption 10, Sposami EP 2 - Part 17

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Impegnarsi can also mean to commit, such as when you promise to do something. 

La ditta Soleri si era impegnata a comprarlo, per almeno cinque anni.

The Soleri company had committed to buying it, for at least five years.

Caption 15, Il Commissario Manara S2EP6 - Sotto tiro - Part 3

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When we use impegno as a noun, it can mean a commitment, as something you have committed to doing, or it can mean you have a prior commitment, such as an appointment or errand. 

No, domani avrei un impegno.

No, tomorrow, I have a commitment.

Caption 54, Imma Tataranni Sostituto procuratore S1 EP 4 Maltempo - Part 6

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As in any language, there are different ways to say the same thing, or something similar. Keep your eyes and ears open so you can expand your vocabulary, and choose just the right word when the time comes. 

banner6 PLACEHOLDER

Accordo is such a handy Italian word but the meaning can change considerably depending on the verb used with it. Let's look at 5 different ways we use accordo (agreement) in everyday life.

BANNER PLACEHOLDER

1) If we take the noun un accordo by itself, it means "an agreement."

Abbiamo firmato un accordo (we signed an agreement).

Io so che Lei aveva un accordo per utilizzare il latte della sua azienda, è così?

I know that you had an agreement for using the milk from her company, is that right?

Caption 42, Il Commissario Manara - S2EP6 - Sotto tiro

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2) If we put the preposition di (of) before it, it means “in agreement”. If we are "in agreement" — or as we usually say in English, “we agree” — we need 3 words to make one. We use the verb essere (to be) + the preposition di (of) + the noun accordo (agreement) to obtain the verb "to agree": essere in accordo. We need to conjugate the verb essere (to be).

Non metto in dubbio le tue idee, ma non sono d'accordo.

I don’t doubt your ideas are good, but I don’t agree.

Caption 35, Marika spiega - Il Verbo Mettere

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Non sei d'accordo?

Don't you agree? (Don't you think so?)

Caption 30, Provaci Ancora Prof! - S1E1 - Il regalo di Babbo Natale

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Allora se la dottoressa è d'accordo, io consiglierei un sopralluogo al museo.

So if the doctor agrees, I'd advise an inspection of the museum.

Caption 55, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP5 - Il Raggio Verde

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Essere d'accordo can also mean "to be in cahoots." The context will reveal this nuance.

Quindi secondo te erano d'accordo per cercare di incastrarlo e poi ricattarlo?

So, in your opinion they were in cahoots to try to frame him and then blackmail him?

Caption 16, Il Commissario Manara - S2EP4 - Miss Maremma

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3) We also use accordo to say “to get along”: andare d’accordo. Here, we use the verb andare plus the preposition di + the noun accordo

Non va d'accordo con suo fratello (She doesn't get along with her brother).

Senti un po', ma io e te una volta andavamo d'accordo, giusto?

Listen up, but you and I got along at one time, right?

Caption 11, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP1 - Un delitto perfetto

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Il signor Spada e la moglie danese pare che non andassero per niente d'accordo.

Mister Spada and his Danish wife, it seems, weren't getting along at all.

Caption 20, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP11 - Beato tra le donne

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4) Another way to say “I agree” in English is “OK” or “all right.” We can certainly use “OK” or va bene to say this in Italian, but another common way is d’accordo. It’s a little more serious than just OK, which can also be filler, just something we say. So there is no verb here. We simply use the preposition di + the noun accordo. People who know French will recognise this way of saying "OK." "D’accord."

Ci vediamo domattina in ufficio, d’accordo?  (I’ll see you at the office tomorrow morning, OK?)
D’accordo (OK).

5) In an informal situation, primarily, in which we need or want to put off actually agreeing to something, there's another useful phrase with accordo. Let's say we need to decide on a time and place to meet, or make a friendly transaction. We can use the verb mettere (to put) in its reciprocal form mettersi (the reciprocal form works much the same as the reflexive form). For more on this read this lesson and.

E poi ci mettiamo d'accordo. La, la chiamo io.

We'll set it up later. I'll call you.

Caption 20, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP9 - Morte in paradiso

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BANNER PLACEHOLDER

This expression mettersi d'accordo is useful among friends who want to get together, but can't (or don't want to) set a date right then and there. To say something like "We'll get together at some point," we could say, Poi, ci mettiamo d'accordo (we'll decide [together] later). It's a friendly expression to say that you want to see this person, but can't decide on anything right then and there.

So we have:

un accordo: an agreement
essere d’accordo: to agree or to be in cahoots
andare d’accordo: to get along
d'accordo: OK! All right
mettersi d’accordo: to come to an agreement—to decide on something together

We think this might have been helpful. Sei d'accordo?