Italian Pronominal Verbs
Weilà weilà raga! Thanks for stopping by this post that correlates with my video on Italian Pronominal Verbs / I Verbi Pronominali. You can check out that video by clicking here.
Pronominal verbs essentially are verbs that when placed next to one or two particles take on a slightly different or nuanced meaning than when they’re on their own.
The common particles we see pronominal verbs paired with are: CI, NE, & LA.
Here are some examples of verbs both in their regular and pronominal form, note the slight difference in meaning:
Accorgere - to notice
Accorgersene - for one to notice something
Andare - to go
Andarsene - to go from somewhere
Avere - to have
Avercela (con qualcuno) - to have an issue with someone (think “to have beef”)
Bere - to drink
Bersela - to believe in something most likely false (think “I don’t buy it”)
Cavare - to dig
Cavarsela - to get by
Credere - to believe
Crederci - to believe in someone
Fare - to do/make
Farcela - to succeed at doing something
Fregare - to fool/trick/rip off
(non) Fregarsene - to not worry oneself with something
Importare - to matter
(non) Importarsene - to not care about something/to not mind something
Mettere - to put
Metterci - the amount of time put into doing something
Mettercela tutta - to give it your all
Pensare - to think
Pensarci - to think about something
Pentire - to repent
(non) Pentirsene - to repent from/to regret something
Sentire - to hear/to feel
Sentirsela - to be in the mood to do something
Volere - to want
Volerci - the amount of time it takes to do something
You can use verbi pronominali in any verb tense. To conjugate them, remove the pronominal pronouns from the end of the verb and conjugate the verb as you normally would. Then, place the pronouns where necessary (usually before the verb) and modify them based on context. Here’s an example of Andarsene in the present tense:
Andarsene
io me ne vado
tu te ne vai
lui/lei se ne va
noi ce ne andiamo
voi ve ne andate
loro se ne vanno
Here’s an example in a greater context: say you’re at a party and you want to get going, but your friends are begging you to stay. If you’ve really got to get going, you may say:
No, grazie. Adesso me ne vado, si è fatto tardi.
No, thanks. I’ve got to get going, it’s gotten late.
Like always, there are multiple ways to translate something. What I provided above is what it feels like to say “me ne vado” in this context. It literally means “I go from here.”
Let’s now focus on some typical ways you could find yourself using and hearing pronominal verbs used in everyday conversation. Note these will be used in varying verb tenses and verb moods (namely the indicative and imperative). To brush up on verb tenses and verb moods, check out my other posts here on my blog or my videos on YouTube.
Non te ne sei accorto? - Did you not realize it?
Vattene! Vai via!- Get out of here! Go away! (Imperative mood: va + te + ne)
Hai visto quelle persone di prima? Ora se ne vanno. - Did you see those people before? Now they’re leaving.
Ti giuro, non ce l’ho con te. - I swear (to you), I don’t have a problem with you.
Sinceramente, quella storia di Luca, non me la bevo - Honestly, Luca’s story, I don’t buy it.
Non so parlare bene l’inglese, ma me la cavo - I don’t know how to speak English well, but I get by.
Ci credo con tutto il cuore - I believe it with my whole heart.
Non ce la faccio più - I can’t take it anymore / I can’t do it anymore.
Sicuro che ce la farai da solo? - Are you sure you can do it/get through it alone?
Non me ne frega niente! - I don’t give a damn about it! / I don’t care (about it/them)!
Non me ne importa, fai quello che vuoi. - I don’t mind, do what you want.
Quanto tempo ci hai messo per farlo? - How long did you take to make it?
Ci ho messo una mezz’ora. - It took me a half hour.
Ti prometto che ce la metterò tutta! - I promise (you) I’ll give it my all!
Non pensarci troppo. - Don’t think too much about it.
Ci ho pensato a lungo, ora so cosa fare. - I thought long and hard about it, now I know what to do.
Fai quel viaggio in Italia! Non te ne pentirai! - Take that trip to Italy! You won’t regret it!
Non me la sento oggi, non so perché - I don’t feel like it today, I don’t know why.
Quanto tempo ci vuole per arrivare lì? - How long does it take to get there?
Ci vogliono due ore in aereo. - It takes two hours by plane.
You may have noticed that many of the examples provided above are in the negative. Personally, this is how I have come to hear and use these expressions in everyday conversation.
I hope you find this blog post and corresponding video on YouTube useful in helping you to better understand Italian pronominal verbs! This is a fun area of Italian.
Many students spend a lot of time trying to figure out pronominal verbs and often get frustrated at their complexity. Once you have a mastery of Italian verb tenses and grammar on the whole, you will find these verbs are not as complex as they may appear. Don’t spend too much time asking yourself why certain pronouns are used and why others aren’t. Take some of the more interesting nuances of pronominal verbs at face value.
Keep up the great work with your Italian! And always remember to spread the love!