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The Verb Sentire Posted by on Jul 30, 2014 in Grammar, Italian Language

The verb sentire can be quite confusing due to its wide variety of meanings.

1. sentire literally means ‘to sense’, and is used to describe four of the five senses: l’udito (hearing), il tatto (touch), il gusto (taste), and l’olfatto (smell). When used to describe perceptions its definition is contextual, as can be seen in the examples below:
ho sentito un rumore = I heard a noise;
senti com’è morbida questa stoffa = feel how soft this fabric is;
fammi sentire quel formaggio = let me taste that cheese;
si sente il profumo del gelsomino entrare dalla finestra = you can smell the scent of the jasmine coming in through the window.

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“si sente il profumo del gelsomino entrare dalla finestra” Photo: Geoff Chamberlain 2013©

However, hearing is the sense most commonly described by the verb sentire even though udire (to hear) is more technically correct:
pronto, mi senti? = hello, can you hear me?
non sento molto bene = I can’t hear very well
sentiamo cosa ha da dire = let’s hear what he has got to say
ci sentiamo domani = we’ll get in touch tomorrow (literally: we’ll hear from each other tomorrow)

sentire, with the meaning of ‘to feel’,  is also used to describe physical sensations:
sento freddo = I’m feeling cold
non senti caldo con quel maglione? = don’t you feel hot with that jumper on?
sento un languorino allo stomaco = I feel a bit peckish (literally: I feel a little emptiness to the stomach)
sentiamo la stanchezza del viaggio = we’re feeling tired from the journey (literally: we feel the tiredness from the journey)

Then there’s sentirsi, reflexive form of sentire:

2. sentirsi also describes how we feel. However, whereas sentire puts the emphasis on an external stimulus and is normally constructed with a direct object (sento la stanchezza = I feel the tiredness), sentirsi describes the action of listening to your own body or emotions and tends to be built with adjectives or adverbs (mi sento stanca = I feel tired). Here are some more examples of its use:
stamattina mi sento bene = this morning I feel well
Lucia non è venuta perché si sentiva stanca = Lucia didn’t come because she was feeling tired
Ciao, come ti senti oggi? = Hi, how are you feeling today?
mi sento proprio un idiota = I feel like a total idiot

idioti

Finally we have sentirsela and sentirselo, which belong to a group of verbs called ‘verbi pronominali’ in which one or more pronouns attach themselves to the verb giving it a new meaning:

3. sentirsela is a colloquial form of sentirsi meaning ‘to feel like it’, ‘to feel up to it’. Here, the pronoun ‘la’ becomes part of the verb and doesn’t have any real meaning:
te la senti di andare a fare due passi? = do you feel like going for a stroll?
non me la sono sentita di parlargli = I didn’t feel like talking to him
Giorgio non se la sente di venire = Giorgio doesn’t feel up to coming

4. sentirselo, constructed with ‘lo’ instead of ‘la’, means ‘to have a premonition’:
me lo sentivo che avrei vinto = I knew I would win (literally: I had the premonition I would win)
Gianna se lo sentiva che non avrebbe passato l’esame = Gianna knew she wouldn’t pass the test
andrà tutto bene, me lo sento! = everything will be fine, I know it!

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Comments:

  1. Cate:

    Excellent blog! After years, I am still struggling with this verb at times….

    • Geoff:

      @Cate Grazie Cate, siamo contenti che trovi il nostro blog di aiuto 🙂

  2. Angela:

    Salve Serena,

    I was corrected by a nice guy in Italy recently when I used the verb ‘sentire’ when I was trying to tell him that the previous year while on hols in N Tuscany I’d been sitting on a rock and ‘FELT’ it move (and later found out I was within the radius of a mild earthquake). Anyway, he said I should’ve used the verb ‘avvertire’. Do you have any comments/helpful hints on this? Many thanks in advance

    • Geoff:

      @Angela Salve Angela! ‘Avvertire una scossa di terremoto’ is the classic sentence used by the media, but I’ve never heard that verb used in everyday conversation. People would normally say: ‘Hai sentito il terremoto?’, or ‘Ho sentito il letto muoversi’ ecc. As I said in my post, ‘sentire’ is used to express physical sensations due to an external stymulus, with the exception of sight. So you were right.

      Saluti da Serena

  3. Cinzia:

    Ciao Serena, ci puo’ dare una spiegazione per l’espressione “sentirsi di”: “Ti senti di uscire?” “Non mi sento di farlo oggi.” ecc.
    E poi volevo aggiungere che tanti studenti d’italiano trovano difficolta’ tra i verbi “sentire” e “sembrare” = to feel like, to look like, to smell like, to taste like, … Do you have any thoughts how to explain the difference?
    Apprezzo tantissimo il tuo blog! Cinzia 🙂

    • Serena:

      @Cinzia Ciao Cinzia, scusami per il ritardo, ma sono stata molto occupata in questo periodo ad imparare a usare il telaio per una manifestazione di antichi mestieri che comincia domani (ne saprai di più la settimana prossima).
      Allora, per quanto riguarda il significato di ‘sentirsi di’ oppure ‘sentirsela di’, non ho spiegazioni. Molto spesso le espressioni idiomatiche bisogna accettarle così come sono, e basta.
      Per quanto riguarda invece la differenza fra ‘sentire’ e ‘sembrare’, allora ‘sentire’, come ho scritto nel blog, registra una sensazione che viene dall’esterno: ‘sento odore di fumo’ (I can smell smoke), ‘mi piace sentire la sabbia sotto i piedi’ (I like to feel the sand under my feet), ecc. Non si usa per la vista.
      ‘Sembrare’ invece è usato per registrare un’impressione che non è vera, è simile a qualcos’altro (it’s like something, it’s not the real thing): ‘questo dipinto è così realistico che sembra una fotografia’ (this painting is so realistic that looks like a photo), ecc. N.B. ‘sentirsi di’ si traduce con ‘to feel like’ ma significa ‘to be in the mood for’
      Spero di essere stata chiara.
      Saluti da Serena


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