Do you ever wonder why, sometimes, people say soltanto, rather than solo or solamente? They all mean "only"  or "just." 

While solo can be an adjective, adverb, or even, in some cases, a conjunction or a noun, soltanto and solamente are adverbs. That means that solo, when functioning as an adjective, will change its ending to agree with the noun or pronoun it modifies, as you can see in these 2 examples. 

Ragazzi, lasciateci soli per cortesia.

Guys, please leave us alone.

Caption 1, Imma Tataranni Sostituto procuratore S1 EP6 Dalla parte degli ultimi - Part 8

 Play Caption

 

Anche quando suoni davanti a una platea sterminata, suona sempre per una persona sola.

Even when you play in front of a huge audience, always play for one person only.

Captions 23-24, La compagnia del cigno S1 EP4 - Part 13

 Play Caption

 

banner2 PLACEHOLDER

In the following examples, solo or solamente could work as well, but soltanto sounds better. Soltanto and solamente are often used to emphasize a limitation, as in these examples. Solamente and soltanto, being adverbs, don't change their endings.

Pensavo che fosse un'attività riservata soltanto agli adulti.

I thought that was an activity reserved for adults only.

Captions 66-67, Provaci ancora prof! S3EP3 La terza vittima - Part 11

 Play Caption

All'inizio degli anni Sessanta si è cominciato ad avere quest'idea, ma la scoperta poi è avvenuta soltanto dieci anni fa.

In the early sixties, we started to get this idea, but the discovery, in the end, happened just ten years ago.

Captions 1-4, Ritratti Fabiola Gianotti - Part 9

 Play Caption

Ha fatto solamente una telefonata ieri sera.

He only made one phone call last night.

Caption 69, Imma Tataranni Sostituto procuratore S1 EP6 Dalla parte degli ultimi - Part 20

 Play Caption

In the following example, soltanto or solamente could work, but in casual conversation, solo works just fine.  

È rimasto solo l'acido muriatico purtroppo.

All that's left is hydrochloric acid, unfortunately.

Caption 19, Provaci ancora prof! S3EP3 La terza vittima - Part 6

 Play Caption

 

Solo can be used to represent a noun, meaning "the only one." Soltanto and solamente can't do this because they each only function as an adverb. 

Non è il solo, eh, però è interessante umanamente parlando.

It's not the only one, huh, but it's interesting from a human perspective.

Captions 18-19, Ritratti Fabiola Gianotti - Part 7

 Play Caption

Here, solo is used as a kind of conjunction, together with che (that). You might also hear soltanto and solamente used this way. 

No, no, si stava benissimo a Praga, solo che qui è tutta un'altra cosa e poi, e poi mi mancavate troppo.

No, no, it was great being in Prague,  just that here, it's a whole different thing and besides, and besides, I missed you too much.

Captions 8-10, Provaci ancora prof! S3EP1 - Due americane a Roma - Part 3

 Play Caption

We might say the winner is solo, which can be used in so many ways, but soltanto and solamente can indicate a limitation, and can be used when solo is unclear or too general. The important thing is to understand these words. You can always fall back on solo when speaking. 

Thanks for reading, and we hope you have a clearer understanding of solo, solamente, and soltanto. Questions? Write to us at [email protected]. 

banner6 PLACEHOLDER

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

 Play Caption

 

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

 Play Caption

 

banner3 PLACEHOLDER

3) Secondo me (in my opinion)

Però, secondo me, la ragazza ha mentito.

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

Caption 6, Provaci ancora prof! S3EP2 Doppio imprevisto - Part 21

 Play Caption

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

 Play Caption

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?

Caption 29, Provaci ancora prof! S2E5 Vita da cani - Part 8

 Play Caption

 

D'accordo, arrivo.

All right, I'll be right there.

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

 Play Caption

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

 Play Caption

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

 Play Caption

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

 Play Caption

 

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

 Play Caption

 

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].

banner6 PLACEHOLDER