9 useful lexical chunks to have in your Italian toolbox

By Sigrid Lee

In a previous lesson we talked about what lexical chunks are, and how we can use them to become more fluent. In this lesson, we mention 10 common chunks you'll want in your Italian toolkit.

1) Non fa niente (it doesn't matter). Literally it's "it doesn't make/do anything." It's better to know what the effect is, and when to say it, than knowing what each word means. Remember that Italian uses the double negative to form a negative, thus we have the negating word non (not) and then the negative word niente (nothing)

Ma se devi andare vai, non fa niente. -No,

But if you have to leave, it's OK/it doesn't matter. -No,

Caption 19, JAMS S1 EP4 - Part 5
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2) Di niente (you're welcome, don't mention it)

Grazie per l'assistenza. -Di niente.

Thanks for your help. -Think nothing of it/you're welcome/it was nothing.

Captions 53-54, La Ladra EP. 4 - Una magica bionda - Part 1
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3) Secondo me (in my opinion)

Però, secondo me, la ragazza ha mentito.

But, in my opinion/according to me, the girl lied.

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For Yabla videos, we tend to translate secondo me as "in my opinion," to distinguish it from penso che (I think that), but a fluent translation of secondo me, is also "I think." If we take the word secondo by itself, it means "according to."

4) Va bene is an equivalent for all right or OK. But literally, it means, "it goes well."

Maura, appena arrivi prendi un tavolo. -Auguri. Va bene.

Maura, as soon as you arrive, get a table. -Congratulations. All right.

Captions 66-67, Com'è umano lui Film - Part 12
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And let's not forget that it can also be posed as a question: Va bene? Does it go/is it going well? You're really asking if something is OK.

5) D'accordo (agreed). Your tone of voice, as well as the context, will indicate whether you are asking if something is OK, or saying something is OK. It's another way to say "OK?" or "OK." Literally, it's "of the agreement."

D'accordo?

All right?

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D'accordo, arrivo.

All right, I'll be right there.

Caption 29, I Bastardi di Pizzofalcone S1 EP6 Buio - Part 7

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6) But you can also say d'accordo to agree with someone. In this case, you add the verb essere (to be), in this case, sono (I am). Literally, it's "to be in agreement."

Sono d'accordo con te.

I agree with you.

Caption 9, I Bastardi di Pizzofalcone S1EP5 Misericordia - Part 25

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7) Here's a chunk we use a lot: avere bisogno di (to have need of). In English, we just use the transitive verb "to need."

Ho bisogno di tempo.

I need time.

Caption 27, Provaci ancora prof! S2E5 Vita da cani - Part 3
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8) Sometimes you just want to say, "all the better" or "just as well." Meglio così (literally, "better like that)".

Meglio così.

All the better/just as well.

Caption 13, Provaci ancora prof! S3EP3 La terza vittima - Part 11
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9) Come dire (how to say, how can I say it)?

Come dire is something you hear often in conversation. It's tricky to translate, because Italians insert it smack in the middle of what they are saying. Literally, it's "how to say?" They're basically posing the question," How can I put this?" or "What's the best way to say this?" It might even be a filler, like "You know?"

Ma non è che io, come dire, invidiassi Valentina.

But it's not that I, you know, envied Valentina.

Captions 54-55, Guido Crepax Cercando Valentina - Part 13
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In this lesson, we've shown you a number of chunks you can learn as if they were single words. Once you get the hang of them, you can use them to build sentences. We'll look at building sentences with chunks in a future lesson. Where there was a choice, we've focused on the first-person singular, since it's the person you will use a lot in speech.

Thanks for reading. As always, send your questions or doubts to [email protected].