Uno scrupolo (a scruple) is a noun in Italian that has a cognate in English, as we see. So there is a connection, but in Italian, this word is more than just its cognate.
What do we mean by this? Let’s look at the English first.
Someone has scruples when he or she tries to do the right thing, morally. A scrupulous person is conscientious, cautious, careful, circumspect; exacting or rigorous.
These definitions apply in Italian as well.
Lei, invece, è un truffatore senza scrupoli che cerca di approfittare di lui.
You, on the other hand, are a conman without scruples who is looking to take advantage of him.
Caption 39, Questione di Karma - Rai Cinema - Part 11
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Gli dici che non ruberai mai un taxi in vita tua, ma per le altre macchine non ti fai troppi scrupoli.
Tell him that you will never steal a taxi your whole life long, but for other kinds of cars you won't have too many scruples.
Captions 28-29, La Ladra - Ep. 5 - Chi la fa l'aspetti - Part 8
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Marika uses the adjective form scrupoloso (scrupulous) in describing the characteristics of someone born under the sun sign Vergine (Virgo).
Cerchi sempre il pelo nell'uovo e sei perfino capace di trovarlo, attenta e scrupolosa come sei.
You always look for the hair in the egg (you split hairs), and you're even capable of finding it, careful and conscientious as you are.
Captions 29-31, Marika spiega - I segni dello Zodiaco - Part 2
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However, the noun scrupolo can also be used when someone has a concern about something, a doubt, a qualm. In Italian, it is very common. It comes down to being conscientious and careful.
Senta, magari è inutile. È uno scrupolo...
Listen, maybe it's not useful. It's a qualm...
Captions 8-9, Il Commissario Manara - S2EP7 - Alta società - Part 5
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Eva, fidati, assaggia. Solo per scrupolo.
Eva, trust me, taste. Just to make sure.
Captions 22-23, La Ladra - Ep. 1 - Le cose cambiano - Part 3
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So, when you have proofread a letter a thousand times, you might read it one last time, per scrupolo.
Before putting a dish on the table, you taste it for the salt, solo per scrupolo.
Did you turn off headlights on the car? I’ll check, per scrupolo.
Per scrupolo is a nice way of saying you want to double check something: just to make sure.
A Yabla Italian subscriber has asked about how to use anche se (even if) and perfino se (even if). These word combinations have to do with connecting two ideas in a sentence.
Let’s examine anche se (although, even if). The individual words themselves are easy enough — anche means “also” or “even,” and se means “if” — but let’s see how these words fit into sentences, and more importantly, which contexts translate with which English equivalents.
In the following example, we use se (if) in Italian but it doesn’t make sense to use “if” in English, so we need “although,” or the more emphatic “even though.”
Dopo mezzogiorno, cominciamo a dire "Buonasera",
After noon, we start saying "good evening,"
anche se, in realtà, non è proprio sera, è pomeriggio.
even though, actually, it's not really evening; it's the afternoon.
Captions 19-20, Marika spiega - L'orologio
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In the next example, we use anche se to connect a subjunctive clause with a conditional one. Remember that where we see se (if), there might be a verb in the subjunctive lurking nearby. See this lesson about the subjunctive and conditional.
Anche se mi pagasse cento euro, non gli farei quel lavoro.
Even if he paid me a hundred euros, I wouldn’t do the job for him.
In the above example, we could also use the other word our subscriber asked about: persino se.
Persino se mi pagasse trecento euro...
Persino is stronger, with more extreme limits, than anche se.
Let’s look at this adverb persino. The first part is per which means “for” or sometimes “to.”
Sino is another way of saying fino (and in fact perfino also exists). Fino means “until,” among other things. So we can think of perfino as meaning “[up] to the degree.”
The following examples give us an idea of the difference between fino and perfino.
Lavorerò fino a mezzogiorno, poi smetto.
I’ll work until noon, then I’ll quit.Potrei lavorare persino fino a mezzanotte, ma non finirei mai.
I could even work until midnight, but I would never finish.
Perfino and persino may be used interchangeably to mean “even” or “to the point of.” We choose one over the other for reasons of eufonia (euphony), that is, harmonious sound, in other words, because it sounds better. When speaking properly, Italians try to avoid cacofonia (cacophony), which is what happens when there are too many instances of one particular consonant all together. A good example is: tra fratelli (between or among brothers). We don’t say fra fratelli because to Italian ears, the two F’s sound bad together, even though they both are equally correct in meaning.
The above example, which uses both perfino and fino, sounds much clearer with persino. You might very well be thinking perfino would have worked better than persino in the first example above, since the next word starts with an s. You might be right!
Perfino se mi pagasse trecento euro...
Even if he paid me three hundred euros...
In the following example, persino was used. This is perhaps because fu (was) starts with “F.”
Persino la regina cattiva fu invitata,
Even the wicked queen had been invited,
Caption 46, Ti racconto una fiaba - Biancaneve
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In the following example, Marika could have used anche (also, even) in place of perfino, but perfino gives a better idea of something pushed to its limit.
Cerchi sempre il pelo nell'uovo
You always look for the hair in the egg (you split hairs),
e sei perfino capace di trovarlo,
and you're even capable of finding it,
attenta e scrupolosa come sei.
careful and conscientious as you are.
Captions 29-31, Marika spiega - I segni dello Zodiaco
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A common synonym for perfino is addirittura.
Qui accanto a me c'è un albero che ha addirittura
Here next to me, there's a tree that is actually
quattrocento anni di vita.
four hundred years old.
Caption 20, Anna presenta - Villa Borghese
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We hope this has helped in understanding anche se and perfino.
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