Saying something doesn’t matter is a little like saying it’s not important. This can be helpful when examining one way to say “it doesn’t matter” in Italian. The adjective “important“ has an Italian cognate, importante—easy enough—but importare (to matter, to be important) is the original verb. In fact, the third person singular of the intransitive verb importare is used in the negative when something doesn’t matter: non importa! It’s a great little phrase, because there’s an impersonal subject (hidden in the third person singular conjugation of the verb) just like in English: it doesn’t matter. It just works, and is easy to say (give or take the “r” which some English speakers have trouble with).  Add a little shrug of your shoulders, and you’ll fit right in!

Che non importa ciò che dice la gente.

And it doesn't matter what people say.

Caption 12, Tiziano Ferro - Il regalo più grande

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Importare can also be used reflexively (but here it gets more complex and much more personal) as in non m’importa (I don’t care, it’s not important to me), non t’importa niente di me (you don’t care about me at all, I’m not important to you), or non m’importa niente (I don’t care at all). For some great examples, do a search of importa in Yabla videos.

There’s also the question, “What does it matter?” Che importa?

Che importa se questo è il momento in cui tutto

What does it matter if this is the moment in which everything

comincia e finisce?

begins and ends?

Captions 12-13, Neffa - Passione - Part 1

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Another easy way to say something doesn’t matter is fa niente, or non fa niente (remember that Italian thrives on double negatives!). In this case the verb fare (to make, to do) is used. We need to stretch our imaginations a bit to find a viable word-by-word translation. Something like: it doesn’t make a difference, no big deal!

Va bene, non fa niente.

All right, it doesn't matter.

Focalizziamoci sulla lezione di oggi.

Let's focus on today's lesson.

Captions 4-5, Marika spiega - La forma impersonale

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Learning Italian does matter!
 

The bellissimo music video Il regalo più grande (the greatest gift) is a reminder that some of the best gifts can’t be bought with money. If you check out the previous lesson, Gifts and Giving, you’ll be all set to understand what Tiziano Ferro is singing about.

Per cominciare (to start with), remember that in Italian, gifts (regali) are “made,” not "given," so we use the verb fare (to make):

Voglio farti un regalo

I want to give you a gift

Caption 1, Tiziano Ferro - Il regalo più grande

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And let's not forget that other word for "gift," dono, along with its verb form donare, used in special, often more formal situations:

Vorrei donare il tuo sorriso alla luna

I'd like to give your smile to the moon

Caption 9, Tiziano Ferro - Il regalo più grande

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Let’s look at these lyrics from a grammatical punto di vista (point of view). Tiziano sings in the present tense at the beginning of the song: voglio farti un regalo (I want to give you a gift). He goes on to use the conditional vorrei donare (I would like to give). But further on in the song, he would like to receive a gift, and the grammar gets a bit more complex:

Vorrei mi facessi un regalo

I would like you to give me a gift

Un sogno inespresso

An unexpressed dream

Donarmelo adesso

To give it to me now

Captions 18-20, Tiziano Ferro - Il regalo più grande

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He again uses the first person conditional of volere (to want), "vorrei" (I would like), but turns the phrase around, which calls for the subjunctive of fare (to make) in the second person imperfect, facessi. Translating it a bit more loosely may help it make more sense: “I would like [it if] you gave me a gift.”

And finally, he uses the infinitive donare (minus the final e), the indirect object/personal pronoun me, and the direct object lo all in one single word, donarmelo.

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Learning suggestion:

Take a look at the conjugations of fare (to make, to do) and volere (to want). You might even be surprised to see that you know more conditional forms of these verbs than you thought, just from hearing them. Go one step further and take any of those conjugations, for example, faresti (second person conditional of fare), and do a Yabla search to find out how it’s used in the videos.

Learn more about Tiziano Ferro as he talks about his approach to writing songs, and about ecological awareness.