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You’re Learning Italian … Really?! Posted by on Aug 31, 2015 in Italian Language

Addirittura is one of those words that often gets overlooked in classes and grammar books, but happens to be quite common, and very useful. It has two main uses:

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1. addirittura?! = a polite exclamation of surprise and/or disbelief.
Translation: really?!, seriously?!

Synonyms: davvero?! sul serio?!

Here are a few typical examples of its use:

Serena: “Lo sapevi che Ambra ha avuto quattro gattini?”. Luisa: “Addirittura, quattro?!” = Serena: “Did you know that Ambra has had four kittens?”. Luisa: “Really, four!?”

Giovanni: “Avevo così tanta fame che mi sono mangiato un intero pollo arrosto”. Piero: “Addirittura, un intero pollo arrosto?!” = Giovanni: “I was so hungry that I ate a whole roast chicken”. Piero: “Seriously, a whole roast chicken?!”

Vincenza: “Per il compleanno di Clara sua nonna è venuta apposta dall’Australia”. Serena: “Addirittura?!” = Vincenza: “Clara’s grandmother came from Australia just (purposely) for her birthday”. Serena: “Really?!”

Annalisa: “Quelle scarpe sono belle ma vogliono duecento Euro!”. Claudio: “Addirittura, duecento?! … sono dei ladri!” = Annalisa: “Those shoes are beautiful but they want two hundred Euro for them!”. Claudio: “You are kidding, two hundred?! … they’re thieves!”

Ian: “Il prossimo inverno voglio scalare l’Everest”. Geoff: “Addirittura, l’Everest, ma sei fuori?!” = Ian: “Next winter I want to climb the Everest”. Geoff: “Seriously, Everest, are you crazy?!”

2. addirittura = adverb used to emphasize something out of the ordinary.
Translation: even, actually

Synonyms: perfino, pure
N.B. this one is less easy to translate literally so study the following examples carefully:

… si sentivano addirittura i gattini muoversi dentro all’addome = you could even feel the kittens move inside the abdomen (from our article Anyone Want a Kitten?)

Giovanni era così affamato che dopo la cena ha mangiato addirittura tre gelati = Giovanni was so hungry, that after dinner he actually ate three ice creams

Che sonno che c’ho! Ho bevuto addirittura quattro caffè ma non riesco a svegliarmi! = I’m so sleepy! I even had four cups of coffee, but I can’t wake up!

Il camion si muoveva con tanta lentezza da sembrare addirittura fermo = The lorry was moving so slowly that it actually looked like it was standing still

Per il loro sessantesimo anniversario di matrimonio zia Vicky e zio Bill hanno ricevuto gli auguri addirittura della Regina = For their sixtieth wedding anniversary auntie Vicky and uncle Bill even received a card from the Queen herself.

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Well that clears that up then … I think …


Addirittura is, of course, only the tip of the iceberg. In an upcoming post we’ll take a look at some more of the many ‘colourful’ ways in which we express surprise, amazement and disbelief.

A presto …..

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Comments:

  1. Joan Engelhaupt:

    Loved the baby picture–so appropriate!

  2. Marianka:

    Non vedo l’ora che ci parli di ‘comunque’… a me sembra di essere piu’ una gomma da masticcare di continuo invece di una parola 🙂 Salve e grazie dei posts.

  3. Eddie:

    Addirittura,non vedo l’ora!

  4. Chippy:

    Very useful examples – thank you both. I can’t see addirittura being used very much until the learner(come me!) knows exactly how to pronounce it with correct stress and emphasis. I can use ‘Davvero?!’ with confidence but would appreciate tips on how to do the same with ‘Addirittura’. BTW, found the links in ‘Anyone want a kittcn?’ very helpful.
    Thanks a lot.

  5. Jackie:

    Grazie mille per tutti i blog. Ogni volta che introducete una parola nuova la studio da ogni angolo possibile. E’ un’occasione rara quando trovo un definizione difficile a credere, ma c’e’ ne una qui: apposta/appositely. No ho mai usato la parola ‘appositely’ dopo piu’ di sessant’anni di inglese! In quest’esempio, secondo me, la traduzione sara’ meglio come: apposta/especially, on purpose, deliberately, in particular. So bene che non e’ la definizione data in un dizionario, ma e’ una definizione piu’ colloquiale. Grazie.

  6. paolo:

    Ciao Serena/ Geoff,
    Si può usare la parola “addirittura” in questo modo?
    “Addirittura, il mio cognome non è giapponese, è italiano.”

    Nel senso di actually, or in effetti. in realtà, etc…

    grazie,
    paolo

  7. Greg:

    The translation of apposta to “appositely” is a bit wonky I think. Apposite means ” exactly right, very relevant, right on the mark”. Eg. – he made a very apposite remark. I think apposta here means “for the purpose of, expressly”. Eg. Nonna came to Italy expressly for the birthday. Wotcha think ? Bit of a typo in a tired moment ?

    • Geoff:

      @Greg Wow, well done spotting that Greg. That was one of Serena’s ‘Italianisms’ that I edited out but that somehow didn’t get saved. We’ve been having a lot of trouble with our internet connection dropping just lately, and if we’re in the middle of editing on-line it really screws things up.
      Actually, in that context it’s not a simple translational. As you’ll see if you take a look at the corrected blog, I’ve gone for ‘just’ (purposely), which to me sounds more natural in the context.

      Tante grazie, ti saluto, Geoff 🙂

  8. Chippy:

    Aah! Che semplice e` la pronuncia di ‘Addirittura’ !!!! Graziemille Geoff! Tutto il video e` cosi`utile!!!!!

    • Geoff:

      @Chippy Sì, è molto brava questa ragazza, e ha anche una pronuncia facile. Ti consiglio di iscriverti al suo canale youtube come ho fatto io.

      A presto, Geoff

  9. Luisa:

    Ciao Serena,

    I know this is a slightly unrelated post, but I’ve been looking through some of your posts about using formal language in Italian and would love some advice.
    I am due to give an oral presentation in Italian soon, and was wondering whether you had any tips on ways to introduce myself and conclude the presentation using formal language for multiple examiners. I’m really struggling to conjugate sentences using the Loro form and I really don’t want to get it wrong!

    Grazie mille,
    Luisa

    • Serena:

      @Luisa Salve Luisa! Don’t exaggerate with the formal form. ‘Loro’ is NOT the plural of Lei! In the plural we use Voi. Loro is, traditionally, only used by waiters and hotel receptionists, e.g. i Signori desiderano ordinare? But even there is now disappearing unless you go to an extra luxury hotel or restaurant.

      If you give some examples of what you need, I’ll try to help you.
      Saluti da Serena

  10. italianinitaly:

    Capitato per caso su questo blog, molto informativo ! Utili le note sul lessico, come questa ! Bravi!

    • Serena:

      @italianinitaly Sono contenta che il nostro blog vi sia utile.
      Saluti da Serena e Geoff


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