In our previous lesson, we tackled a unique Italian grammar collision: using a reflexive verb inside an impersonal statement. This happens when two conditions meet:
1) We use a reflexive verb like vestirsi (to dress oneself), where si is part of the verb.
2) We want to speak impersonally ("people in general"), which also requires the subject si.
When these two si particles collide, the first one changes to ci:
si + si veste → ci si veste
Other Ways to Say the Same Thing:
To see, close up, how this structure compares to other common subject pronouns and nouns, let's look at these alternative options:
Uno si veste a cipolla per fare trekking. (using the singular pronoun uno (someone): "One dresses in layers...")
Una persona che va a fare trekking si veste a cipolla. (using a singular noun una persona: (a person dresses...)
La gente, quando fa trekking, si veste a cipolla. (using the collective singular noun la gente: "People dress...")
Le persone che fanno trekking si vestono a cipolla. (using the plural noun le persone, which forces the verb into the plural si vestono).
Ci vestiamo a cipolla quando facciamo trekking. (using the "we" form: "We dress ourselves in layers when we hike." Here, ci actually does mean "us"!).
Ci si veste a cipolla quando si fa trekking. (impersonal + reflexive combo: "People dress in layers when people/they go hiking.")
The New Twist
We closed the previous lesson with this example:
E come tanti altri italiani, il ventiquattro sera, verso le sette, ci si mette a cena, e si mangiano pietanze a base di pesce.
And like many other Italians, the evening of the twenty-fourth, around seven, one sits down to dinner, and one eats dishes with fish as their basis.
And like many other Italians, the evening of the twenty-fourth, around seven, people sit down to dinner, and dishes with fish as their basis are eaten.
Captions 5-8, Marika spiega La Vigilia di Natale
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Notice the second highlighted phrase:
si mangiano pietanze
Unlike ci si mette, this is not a reflexive construction. However, it is still impersonal because nobody specific is mentioned as the "actor."
❗️The important thing to notice is that the direct object (pietanze) is plural.
This creates what we might call the Plural Object Trap.
The Rule
When the direct object is singular, the verb remains singular:
Si mangia la pizza in pizzeria o a casa.
One can eat pizza in a pizzeria or at home.
Pizza can be eaten in a pizzeria or at home.
But when the direct object is plural, the verb flips to the plural:
Si mangiano tanti tipi di pizza in quella pizzeria.
One can eat many types of pizza in that pizzeria.
Many types of pizza can be eaten in that pizzeria.
➡️ A note about si passivante
If you've studied Italian grammar before, you may have come across the term si passivante.
In practice, however, you don't need to worry too much about the label. The important thing to notice is that when a plural direct object appears in relation to si, the verb agrees with it:
Si mangia la pizza.
Si mangiano molti tipi di pizza.
You can think of it this way: the focus shifts from the people doing the action to the thing being acted upon (the pizza, types of pizza). For learners (and non-grammar nerds), recognizing this plural agreement is much more useful than memorizing grammatical terminology.
And here is a great example from a Yabla video that, in one single sentence, features 3 different ways we use the impersonal reflexive. We looked at the first 2 ways in the previous lesson, so pay close attention to the 3rd way.
ci si rilassa → reflexive verb rilassarsi (to relax) in the impersonal third person.
si legge → standard verb in the impersonal (third person singular) form.
si fanno tante attività. → the object (attività) is plural, so the verb agrees with it and becomes plural: fanno.
Questa è la stanza in cui ci si rilassa, si legge, si fanno tante attività.
This is the room in which one relaxes, one reads, one does many things.
Captions 2-3, Marika spiega Il salone
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Here are two examples using the verb vedere (to see).
Singular object:
Si vede tutta la città?
Can one see the whole city?
Can the whole city be seen?
Caption 2, La compagnia del cigno S2 EP 2 - Part 13
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Plural object:
E si vedono ancora degli affreschi di allora.
And one still sees frescoes from that time.
Frescoes from that time are still seen.
Caption 14, Meraviglie EP. 1 - Part 14
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Below is an example with the verb vendere (to sell).
Singular object:
Ma l'appartamento si vende, Le interessa?
But the apartment is for sale. Are you interested?
Caption 65, Imma Tataranni Sostituto procuratore S1 EP5 Rione Serra Venerdì - Part 11
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Plural object:
I dischi non si vendono più.
CDs are no longer selling.
Caption 51, Chi m'ha visto film - Part 2
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One verb you'll encounter all the time in this construction is parlare. Walk through a city like Rome or Florence and you may see signs that say:
Qui si parla inglese.
English is spoken here.
They speak English here.
The object (inglese) is singular, so the verb remains in the singular.
In these examples, Marika is playing the teacher, and Anna, the student.
Singular object:
Che dialetto si parla a Milano?
What dialect do they speak in Milan?
What dialect is spoken in Milan?
Caption 37, L'Italia a tavola Interrogazione sulla Lombardia
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Plural object:
In Puglia si parlano tanti dialetti.
In Puglia, many dialects are spoken.
In Puglia, they speak many dialects.
Caption 32, L'Italia a tavola Interrogazione sulla Puglia
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What Should You Listen For?
When you hear an impersonal construction with si, your first instinct may be to expect a singular verb:
Si mangia.
Si parla.
Si vede.
And most of the time, you will be right.
But now you know the trap.
If a plural direct object enters the sentence, the verb often switches to the plural:
Si mangiano pietanze.
Si vedono affreschi.
Si parlano dialetti.
Si fanno attività.
The good news is that you don't have to stop and analyze whether you're dealing with a si impersonale or a si passivante. Instead, try training your ear to notice a simpler pattern:
Singular object → singular verb
Si parla inglese.
Si vende l'appartamento.
Si vede la città.
Plural object → plural verb
Si parlano molti dialetti.
Si vendono i dischi.
Si vedono gli affreschi.
As you watch Italian videos and listen to native speakers, keep an ear out for these forms. The more examples you hear, the more natural they will begin to sound. Before long, you'll stop thinking of them as grammar rules and start recognizing them as just another way Italians talk.
Alla prossima!
Thanks for reading. You can write to us at [email protected].
We love to hear from you. Ci piace tantissimo sentirvi!
Both words we want to talk about in this lesson have to do with the root word tono (tone). It means pretty much the same thing in both languages.
Ora delle due è una: o mi sta raccontando una balla adesso o mi ha preso in giro sin dall'inizio. Questo tono con me! Si rende conto che questa è insubordinazione?
Now it's one of the two: Either you're bullshitting me now, or you've been giving me the runaround from the beginning. This tone with me! Do you realize that this is insubordination?
Captions 13-16, Il Commissario Manara S1EP8 - Morte di un buttero - Part 12
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We use the words tono and "tone" a lot in music, too. Un tono is a whole tone or whole step of a scale. In Western music, for example, we have a series of whole tones and semi tones — toni e semitoni — that make up a particular musical scale.
Remaining in the realm of music, the verb intonare can mean "to start singing."
When someone sings the right notes, with accurate relationships between the notes, we can say this person is intonato or intonata (in tune). He or she has good intonazione (intonation).
When the opposite happens, when someone is not singing in tune, he is stonato, she is stonata. So once again, we have the S prefix that transforms a word into one with an opposite meaning. If this use of S at the beginning of a word is unfamiliar to you, check out this lesson.
In the example below, Martino, the guitarist, hears a woman singing onstage. He complains:
Ma quella è stonata.
But she's out of tune.
Caption 4, Chi m'ha visto film - Part 2
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In Italian, we often use the verbs intonare and stonare or their past participles, intonato and stonato in a figurative way, or in referring to colors and designs, anything, really. In the example below, it's used with a reflexive si.
La sua maglietta non si intona col mio rossetto e quindi Le metto sette.
Your t-shirt doesn't harmonize with my lipstick, and so I'm giving you a seven.
Caption 92, L'Italia a tavola Interrogazione sulla Liguria
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In this next example, an acquaintance of the famous film directors, the Taviani brothers, is describing how they were and how they worked together.
Erano sempre, ehm, eleganti, se si può dire la parola usata in maniera e... appunto non manierata, ma in maniera intonata no, sempre intonati, ecco.
They were always, uh, elegant, if one can use the word used in a manner and... just that, not mannered, but in a manner — harmonious, right? Always harmonious, that's it.
Captions 45-49, Fratelli Taviani La passione e l'utopia - Part 8
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In a recent episode of Meraviglie, Alberto Angela uses the verb stonare figuratively, imagining what kind of play could be performed in the piazza of Lecce, a piazza that is reminiscent of a theatrical stage.
Tutto sembra disposto e ornato per un lieve gioco teatrale. Una commedia di Goldoni non vi stonerebbe.
Everything seems set up and decorated for a lighthearted play. A Goldoni play would not be out of place here.
Captions 9-10, Meraviglie S2 EP3 - Part 7
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So we can use stonare to mean "to clash," "to go together poorly."
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Another noun, stemming from tono, is sintonia, which is used quite a bit in Italian when talking about people who are on the same wavelength, who seem to be in sync. For example, when two people are thinking the same thing at the same time.
Loro due sono in sintonia (Those two are attuned to each other, they're on the same wavelength).
There's a movie on Yabla about a musician who wants to make it as a singer, but is not succeeding.
His agent tells him to take a break from performing, and to soften the blow, says that although Martino's music making is all right, he doesn’t have the presence necessary for performing on stage.
Here's what the agent says:
Sì, la musica ancora ancora sta, ma è la faccia, "the face" [inglese: la faccia]. È questa...
Yes, your playing is maybe all right, but it's the face, the face. It's this..
Caption 36, Chi m'ha visto - film
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A reader has written in asking if the double instance of the adverb ancora was a mistake or not. It’s a good question, and we’ll try to answer it.
We have learned from Daniela's lessons about comparatives and superlatives that, in addition to using più or the suffix -issimo to form the superlative of adjectives and some adverbs, we can also simply repeat the word twice. So we have bellissimo or bello bello. They mean the same thing, although the double adjective or adverb is used primarily in spoken Italian. Read this lesson about it!
So, we have this word ancora. It’s already the source of a little confusion because it means different things in different contexts.
We've looked at this before and there's a lesson about the different meanings of ancora.
Let’s give the word a quick review here.
In the following example, ancora means "even."
Così puoi capirmi ancora meglio.
That way, you can understand me even better.
Caption 27, Italian Intro - Serena
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And In this example, ancora means "still". "Still" and "even" can often be interchangeable, as in these two examples.
E ancora oggi siamo molto amiche.
And still today we're very close friends.
Caption 39, Erica e Martina - La nostra amicizia
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È ancora vivo.
He’s still alive.
If we put it in the negative, non ancora means "not yet."
Non è ancora morto.
He's not dead yet.
In the example that follows, ancora means “more.”
Ne vuoi ancora? -Eh?
Do you want some more of it? -Huh?
Caption 32, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP10 - Un morto di troppo
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And ancora can also mean simply, “again.”
Va be', comunque io ti ringrazio ancora per i biglietti,
OK, in any case, I thank you again for the tickets,
Caption 67, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP7 - Sogni di Vetro
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So this adverb has different meanings that are somewhat related. They have to do with time or quantity and can mean “still,” “again,” “yet” with non (not), “more,” or “even.”
But in this movie, it’s repeated twice, and here, it has a particular, colloquial meaning. It means we are on the borderline of something. Ancora ancora means we're at the limit. We're on the line, even though we haven't stepped over it. Something can pass.
So Martino’s agent is saying, “Your playing is good enough,” and might even be implying “it’s passable.” Here, it’s followed by ma (but), so it's clear that something else isn't passable. "Your playing is passable, but your face isn’t."
There are other adverbs that lend themselves being doubled for effect:
Poco poco to mean just a tiny bit.
Piano piano to mean really soft, really slow.
Appena appena to mean faintly, barely.
Sometimes the doubling takes on a special meaning that has evolved over time, as in the case with ancora ancora.
Quasi quasi is another adverb like this. Literally, it means almost almost, but that makes little sense. For more on quasi quasi, see this lesson about it. Here's an example to give you the basic idea. Let's say I've been debating in my mind whether to have another helping, but then decide and say:
Quasi quasi, ne prendo ancora.
I might just have some more.
If you're not yet a subscriber but seriously thinking about it, you could say,
Quasi quasi mi iscrivo a Yabla.
I might just sign up for Yabla.
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