In a recent episode of Un medico in famiglia, Guido (the doctor who is staying at the Martini residence) is having a conversation with Maria (a family member who is studying medicine and is also attracted to Guido). Her grandfather is trying to listen in on the conversation. Guido uses the word innanzitutto. It's a long word, and can be a bit daunting, but if we take it apart, we'll see that it is no big deal. Let's look for the words within the word. 

Be', innanzitutto bisogna vedere se è veramente un'amicizia, perché...

Well, first of all, we have to see if it's really a friendship, because....

Caption 62, Un medico in famiglia Stagione 3 S3EP4 Lo stagno del ranocchio - Part 12

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Innanzitutto, scriviamo il luogo e la data in alto a destra.

First of all, we write the place and the date in the upper right hand corner.

Captions 12-13, Corso di italiano con Daniela Lettera informale - Part 1

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Maestra, tantissime cose. Innanzitutto, Firenze con gli Uffizi, ma non solo.

Teacher, many things. First of all, Florence with the Uffizi, but not only.

Captions 72-73, L'Italia a tavola Interrogazione sulla Toscana

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Perhaps the first word that jumps out is tutto. Many of us know that means "everything" or "all."

What might not jump out as a word is innanzi.  It means "in front of" or "before." It's not all that common, but it is used in literature and formal speech quite a bit. It's another way to say davanti (in front of) and has a variant, dinnanzi.

"Alla parola "comizio", d'ora innanzi, prego di sostituire la parola "raduno di propaganda".

"For the word "assembly," from now on, please substitute the word "propaganda meeting."

Caption 44, Me Ne Frego Il Fascismo e la lingua italiana - Part 7

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It's also another way to say in avanti (henceforth), as in the previous example (from the 1930s).

One way to say you are surviving is:

Si tira avanti or si tira innanzi (one is pulling forward, or pushing forth).

A more common word we can detect as part of innanzitutto is anzi. We use this word a lot when we contradict ourselves, change our minds, or reiterate something with emphasis. See our lesson about anzi.

Interestingly, anzi comes from the Latin word (also an Italian word) ante  meaning "before." We find this in words like anteprima (preview) or antenati  (forefathers). It basically means "before." As we can see in the lesson mentioned above, anzi  means a lot of things now, but originally, its meaning was "before," or, in Italian, prima. Many of us know that prima can mean either "before" or "first." 

So, innanzitutto just means, "first of all," or if you want to get a bit fancier, "first and foremost." It's really no big deal. And the good news is that if it's too hard to pronounce, you have some alternatives, some of them similar but not exact synonyms.

Prima di tutto (first of all)

Per cominciare (to start with)

Soprattutto (above all)

There may be more! Let us know if you discover new ones. Meanwhile, if you can manage it, innanzitutto is something to say when beginning a speech and acknowledging the sponsor.

Innanzitutto, vorrei ringraziare... (first and foremost, I would like to thank...)

Let's look at a word used in a recent episode of Volare that has both a verb and a noun form. It's an easy cognate, but you might not think of it, since "to deserve" is the verb we would use in English, and alas, it has no cognate in Italian.

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So meritare is a good verb to know. The noun form is il merito. In English, we would usually say "Thanks to [someone or something]."  Or we might say, "The credit is all yours/his/hers/theirs." So, you'll probably understand these words when you see them, especially when they are in a clear context, but you might not add them to your vocabulary if you are thinking in English. They are worth adopting, though. "Being worth it" is another way to translate meritare!

È merito della signora se sono qui, eh.

It's thanks to the lady if I am here, huh.

-No, Lei è qui perché se lo merita,

-No. You are here because you deserve to be.

non deve ringraziare nessuno.

You don't have to thank anyone.

Captions 22-24, Volare - La grande storia di Domenico Modugno - Ep. 1

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You might have noticed that the speaker uses the reflexive form of meritare, meritarsi. Both ways are OK, but when it's reflexive it feels a bit more personal (and it's a bit more complicated to use).

Il successo l'hai meritato.

Il succeso te lo sei meritato.

Let's look at some examples from Yabla videos:

Una come Teresa non si meritava di morire così.

Someone like Teresa didn't deserve to die like that.

Caption 62, I Bastardi di Pizzofalcone S1EP3 Vicini - Part 4

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Se hai una pessima idea di me, me lo merito.

If you have a bad impression of me, I deserve it.

Caption 72, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP5 - Il Raggio Verde

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Se questa operazione è riuscita, il merito è tuo. Brava, Sardi.

If this operation succeeded, it's thanks to you. Very good, Sardi.

Caption 26, Il Commissario Manara - S2EP4 - Miss Maremma

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Eh, va be', però bisogna avvertirlo, perché il critico ha dato tutto il merito a te.

Well, all right, but you should let him know because the critic gave you all the credit.

Caption 24, La Ladra - Ep. 5 - Chi la fa l'aspetti

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Pensavo di meritare di più dalla vita.

I thought I deserved more from life.

Caption 19, Il Commissario Manara - S2EP10 -La verità nascosta

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Poi sicuramente Pisa merita una visita

Then, of course, Pisa is worth a visit

con la sua torre pendente che non casca mai.

with its leaning tower that never falls.

Captions 75-76, L'Italia a tavola - Interrogazione sulla Toscana

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As you can see in the final example, to deserve something and be worth something are very close. Sometimes they are interchangeable. They are in Italian too, so check out our lesson about valere (to be worth). 

There's a wonderful word that is a bit tricky to say, because there is a double "d," then a single "r", then a double "t" and then a single "r". Whew! But it's worth the trouble (and worth practicing). Addirittura. It means several things and is simply a great word to have handy, for instance, when expressing astonishment:

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Addirittura?

Really?

Caption 34, Chi m'ha visto - film - Part 22

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The man saying this, if speaking English, might have said, "Seriously?"

It can mean, "as a matter of fact":

E mi sembrava addirittura che i toscani lavorassero troppo poco.

And as a matter of fact, it seemed to me that Tuscans worked too little.

Caption 42, Gianni si racconta - Chi sono

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We can often translate addirittura with a simple "even."

E questa sera mi ha addirittura raggiunta in studio la mamma del povero Martino.

And this evening, poor Martino's mom even came to the studio to join me.

Caption 43, Chi m'ha visto - film - Part 18

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A less word-for-word translation might have been:

Poor Martino's mom came all the way to the studio to join me.

But it's a strong word and "even" doesn't always do it justice. 

It can mean "as far afield as," "as much as,"  "as little as," "to the point that," "downright," and more.

Sembri la Befana. Eh! Addirittura!

You look like a witch. Hey! That bad?

Captions 8-9, La Ladra - Ep. 7 - Il piccolo ladro

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Ce ne sono due grandi internazionali

There are two large international ones

eh... a Pisa e Firenze, ma addirittura altri sette piccoli aeroporti.

uh... in Pisa and Florence, but in fact there are seven other small airports.

Captions 69-70, L'Italia a tavola - Interrogazione sulla Toscana

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As you might have figured out, addirittura can have to do with extreme measures or something exceptional. It can be useful when complaining or when justifying something you did: 

L'ho controllato addirittura tre volte (I went so far as to check it three times).

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Tip: Go to the videos page and do a search of addirittura. You will get dozens of examples where addirittura is a stand-alone expression and others that will be part of a sentence. To get even more context plus the English translation, go to "Transcripts" and do the same kind of search with command-F. The word will be highlighted. Reading the sentence out loud will give you plenty of practice.