Poi is a short word, and it's an adverb, but it is used extremely often, and more often than not, it means something other than its basic translation of "then." The English word "then" is also one of those words we find in all sorts of situations, meaning various things. Sometimes it's tricky to find the "right" English equivalent of poi, since it is also used as a kind of filler word in Italian.
Let's look at the dictionary definition of poi. The first definition is "then." How helpful is that? Not so helpful, except in the most basic cases.
At its most basic, poi may be used like "then" to put things in order, in a series. For example, if you are giving someone instructions, you will use "Then you do this..." The same thing can be done in Italian. Here, Daniela is listing the colors and how they work in Italian.
I colori positivi sono: grigio.
The positive colors are: gray.
Grigio. La maglia di Sandra è grigia.
Gray. Sandra's sweater is gray.
Poi abbiamo il nero.
Then we have "nero" (black).
La mia maglia è nera.
My sweater is black.
Poi abbiamo la maglia di Ingeborg che è... bianca.
Then we have Ingeborg's sweater, which is... white.
Captions 4-8, Corso di italiano con Daniela - I colori
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When someone is telling a story, you might ask:
E poi cosa è successo?
And then what happened?
Caption 30, Acqua in bocca - Rapimento e riscatto - Ep 12
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But poi can also mean later. Maybe the easiest way to remember this is in the expression prima o poi (sooner or later).
Se nascevo da un'altra parte,
If I was [had been] born somewhere else,
prima o poi, il destino bussava.
sooner or later, destiny would have come knocking.
Caption 20, Chi m'ha visto - film
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Speaking of expressions, another one that's used a lot is d'ora in poi from now on:
Siamo una cinquantina
There are about fifty of us
e siamo tutti pronti ad avere,
and we are ready to have,
d'ora in poi, come soli referenti voi.
from now on, you as our sole representative,
Captions 24-25, Adriano Olivetti - La forza di un sogno Ep.2
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In other words, we're talking about "later than this moment," or "henceforth." But we can also say da quel moment in poi, when we're talking about the past or the future — from then on, from that moment forward.
Sometimes poi is used like "besides," "in the end," "all in all."
Poi, adesso che ha deciso di candidarsi alle elezioni,
Besides, now that he has decided to run for election,
ha in testa soltanto la politica e il Movimento Comunità.
he has only politics and the Community Movement in mind.
Captions 4-5, Adriano Olivetti - La forza di un sogno Ep.2
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In the following example, we could even leave poi out, and the sentence would make sense.
...perché questo serve per
...because this serves to
rendere ermetica la chiusura,
create the hermetic seal,
quindi non far entrare l'aria,
meaning it doesn't let in any air,
che poi è quella che va a far deteriorare la marmellata.
which is, in the end, what makes the jam deteriorate.
Captions 75-78, Andromeda - Marmellata anti spreco
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So, often, poi is just used as filler. In fact, here, it's even left out of the translation, because del resto is already complete. But poi embellishes it a bit, to mean "also" or "too."
Come prosciutto e melone poi del resto, però la mozzarella...
Like cured ham and melon, for that matter, but mozzarella...
Caption 23, Anna e Marika - La mozzarella di bufala - La produzione e i tagli
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We have just scratched the surface. If you find instances of poi that you don't understand, please let us know and we will add on to this lesson.
In this lesson, we are going to take one segment of an episode of a TV series we are offering on Yabla and explore some of the expressions and vocabulary that could do with a little explaining. Whether you are a Yabla Italian subscriber or not, you will want to be familiar with these words and expressions.
If we look at the word già, we see it primarily means "already."
Eh... già che ci sei, guarda che ora è.
Eh... while you're at it, look at what time it is.
Caption 17, Acqua in bocca - Rapimento e riscatto
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Già che ci sei is a very common expression, and it was translated with an equivalent English expression. If we want to be more word-for-word, another way to translate this could be:
Since you are already there, could you see what time it is?
But già is also used as reinforcement. It can mean "indeed," or "right," or even "yeah," when "yeah" is confirming something someone else said.
E così Lei è nata ad Atene.
So, you were born in Athens.
-Eh già, ma me ne sono andata appena adolescente.
-That's right, but I left as soon as I became a teenager.
Captions 1-2, La Ladra - EP.12 - Come ai vecchi tempi
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It can be preceded by eh, or ah, again, fillers or interjections.
Volevo dedicarmi un po' alla mia vera passione,
I wanted to devote myself a bit to my true passion,
fotografando l'Italia.
photographing Italy.
Ah, già, Lei è fotografa.
Ah, right, you are a photographer.
Captions 53-55, Adriano Olivetti - La forza di un sogno Ep. 1
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At a certain point, Eva is talking to a guy at the group home about the owner of the place they are renting from. He says:
Se lo hai conosciuto, avrai capito il soggetto.
If you have met him, you will have figured out the individual.
Caption 26, La Ladra - EP. 12 - Come ai vecchi tempi
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The guy Eva is talking to uses the noun soggetto. He means, "You have realized what kind of person/character you are dealing with." Well, in fact, soggetto is a great cognate, because it does often refer to a subject. And just think of the American TV series Criminal Minds where they use the term "unsub" (unidentified subject) to mean a criminal type they are looking for.
1) Can you think of another way to say "Se lo hai conosciuto, avrai capito il soggetto" using a more modern and colloquial noun in place of soggetto?
Attenzione: When we want to say "Don't change the subject!" we do not use soggetto. We use argomento.
Non cambiare argomento!
If you watch movies on Yabla, they often include the titles and credits. In this case, il soggetto refers to the idea of the story or the story. In fact, the Taviani brothers, when pitching a film story to a producer, got this as a response.
"Se in tre frasi riuscite a dirmelo, funziona.
"If you can tell me in three sentences, it works.
Se non è in tre frasi, guardate, cambiate subito soggetto
If it's not in three sentences, look, change the story right away
perché vuol di' [dire] che non funziona".
because it means it doesn't work."
Captions 51-53, Fratelli Taviani - La passione e l'utopia
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We have learned that però means "however," "though," or "but." Most of the time it does.
Però un lato umano ce l'ha:
But he does have a human side:
è ancora innamoratissimo della defunta moglie.
He is still very much in love with his deceased wife.
Captions 27-28, La Ladra - EP.12 - Come ai vecchi tempi
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2) È ancora innamoratissimo della moglie. Can you put this in the negative? (He is no longer in love with his wife).
But it's also something people say to mean, "Wow!" When you find out some news that's perhaps a bit surprising or shocking, or you are impressed by something (one way or another), one reaction can be Ah, però!
Peccato che i parenti della defunta moglie
Too bad that the deceased wife's relatives
l'abbiano accusato di essersi intestato tutti i beni di famiglia.
accused him of having put all the family's assets in his name.
-Ah, però!
-Wow!
Captions 29-31, La Ladra - EP.12 - Come ai vecchi tempi
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You can even leave out Ah and just say Però!
È stata una delle esperienze più intense della mia vita.
It was one of the most intense experiences of my life.
Però! Vieni.
Wow! Come here.
Captions 5-6, Il Commissario Manara - S1EP1 - Un delitto perfetto
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Siamo in rotta.
We're on the outs.
Caption 50, La Ladra - EP. 12 - Come ai vecchi tempi
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Rotta comes, in this case, from rottura (rupture), or from the verb rompere (to break). So another way to say this in Italian would be avere rotto i rapporti con qualcuno (to have broken off a relationship with someone). But most likely if you look for in rotta in a dictionary, it will be translated as "en route," since rotta also means "route!" So check out the context before deciding what you think something means.
We mention this expression because it uses the impersonal si, and it uses a different adverb than we would use in English to express the same question.
Cosa vuole, Gina, fosse per me quei bambini li difendere con le armi.
What do you want, Gina, if it were up to me to defend those children with weapons.
What do you want, Gina? If it were up to me, those kids, I'd defend them with weapons.
Cosa vuole, Gina, fosse per me quei bambini
What do you want, Gina? If it were up to me, those kids,
li difendere con le armi.
I'd defend them with weapons.
Ma come si fa? La legge è dalla parte del proprietario.
But what can we/one do? The law is on the side of the owner.
Captions 56-58, La Ladra - EP.12 - Come ai vecchi tempi
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3) Instead of using the impersonal — come si fa? — can you say something similar in the first person plural?
Of course, come si fa? also means "how does one do that?" and in this case come matches up with "how." But more often than not, this expression is used to mean "what can you (or one) do?" It's just something to be aware of and watch out for, especially since it's an expression people use a whole lot! Keep in mind that the impersonal can also be translated with the passive voice in English: What can be done?
If you like (or don't like) these lessons focused on one video or segment, please let us know!
"Extra credit"
1) Se lo hai conosciuto, avrai capito il tipo.
2) Non è più innamorato della moglie.
3) Come facciamo?
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