Italian Phrases We Use EVERY Day!® How to Say “Get” in Italian

Kathryn Occhipinti, MD, for Learn Travel Italian.com

Do you want to speak Italian more easily and confidently by the end of 2019?

I’ve been trying to help you with this goal by posting a new blog every month in the series “Italian Phrases We Use EVERY Day!”®  With these blogs, I discuss how Italians use their language on a daily basis and in so doing help you to “think in Italian.” 

Now that half the year has passed and  I know you will have to get ready for even more complex Italian in the future!

As I’ve said before, I believe that “commonly used phrases” are the key for how we can all build fluency in any language in a short time.

If we learn how to incorporate “commonly used phrases” when we speak Italian, we will be able to form descriptive sentences about what we have to get done, or what we have got to do during the course of a regular day — just as we do in our native language!

The concept of  little verb “get” is rendered differently in Italian than in English, and this is a bit tricky to get used to at first.  Instead of inserting a verb that is the equivalent of “get” into a sentence, Italians instead use the precise verb that describes exactly what it is they must “get” to do. The chosen Italian verb is often in the reflexive form, as we often refer to ourselves when we use the verb “get.”  So, we must “get ourselves ready” for this concept by remembering our Italian reflexive verbs!

Luckily, Italian reflexive verb conjugation is not difficult and once the concept is mastered that Italian renders the concept of “get” with a reflexive verb when we describe our own actions, telling others  that we “get” this idea should come easily!

This post is the 23rd in a series of Italian phrases we have been trying out in our Conversational Italian! Facebook group.  If you’d like to read the earlier posts in the series, “Italian Phrases We Use EVERY Day!” just click HERE

Many “commonly used phrases” that describe what we are doing

during the course of an ordinary day

use the words
  “Get…” or  “Got…”

 If I want to describe our day in Italian we must learn to use
Reflexive Verbs.

See below for how this works.

As we all master these phrases, so will you. Try my method and let me know how it works. What sentences will you create with these phrases?

Please reply. I’d love to hear from you! Or join our Conversational Italian! group discussion on Facebook.

The basics of the Italian language are introduced in the Conversational Italian for Travelers textbook and reference books Just the Verbs and Just the Grammar  

                       found on amazon.com and Learn Travel Italian.com.

The rights to purchase the Conversational Italian for Travelers books in PDF format on two electronic devices can also be obtained at Learn Travel Italian.com.

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How to Say “Get” in Italian

with

Italian Reflexive Verbs

At first glance, it seems easy to say “to get” in Italian.  The verb prendere translates as “to get.”  But, the verb prendere actually has the specific meaning of “to procure something.” 

In English conversation, which is typically less formal than written English,  the verb to get is used in many more ways and conveys many more meanings than the verb prendere does in Italian.  We English speakers rely on our basic understanding of what is going on in any given conversation to come up with the meaning of the verb to get. Instead, in both written and conversational Italian, the use of the verb to get is more specific than it is in English.

Many Italian verbs are used to translate the different meanings behind the English verb to get. Here are a few Italian verbs lifted from the Italian — English dictionary Word Reference (www.wordreference.com) as examples: ricevere (to receive/get something), portare (bring/get something), arrivare (arrive/get somewhere), capire and comprendere (understand something).

Just to make things a little more complicated… in an ordinary conversation, we all often  describe what we have “got” to do.  And, when we refer to activities of daily living in Italian, this means that the verb refers back to ourselves.  And therefore… the Italian verb that we use must be reflexive.

I’ll try to get you  to see how this works by first listing some common Italian reflexive verbs that translate as “to get” in Italian.  Take a look at the table below:

alzarsi	to get up
annoiarsi	to get bored
arrabbiarsi	to get angry
bagnarsi	to get wet to take a bath
laurearsi	to get a university degree to graduate
mettersi mettersi qualcuno nei guai	to put on clothing to get (oneself) in trouble
preoccuparsi	to get worried to worry
prepararsi (per)	to get ready (for)
riprendersi	to get better  to recover
spogliarsi	to get undressed
sposarsi	to get married
vestirsi svestirsi	to get dressed to get undressed

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Below are some example sentences taken from what we all do in a normal day, many of which use the reflexive verbs from the previous table. The Italian subject pronoun “io,” meaning “I” is included in the Italian examples, although io is almost always omitted with reflexive verbs (as in most general conversation). Parentheses have been used in the Italian sentences as a reminder of this fact.

In the same way, parentheses are used in the English translation to indicate Italian reflexive pronouns that are not necessary in English. But, hopefully it will be useful to learn to think in Italian before translating into correct English.

Also remember that the simple present tense in Italian can have several different meanings in English.  The simple phrase“Io vado,” for instance, can be translated as: “I go,” “I am going” or “I do go.”

Now, I think we understand enough about how Italian works that we are ready to get going with our examples!

Getting up in the morning:

(Io) Mi sveglio.	I wake up. (lit. I wake myself up.)
(Io) Mi alzo.	I get up. (lit. I get myself up.)
(Io) Mi alzo presto.	I get (myself) up early.
(Io) Mi alzo alle sei.	I get (myself) up at 6 AM.
(Io) Mi alzo tardi domani.	I am going to get (myself) up late tomorrow.

Getting ready to go out for the day:

(Io) Mi faccio il bagno. (Io) Mi faccio una doccia.	I take a bath. (lit. I make myself the bath.) I take a shower. (lit. I make myself a shower)
(Io) Mi lavo.	I wash myself.
(Io) Mi asciugo.	I dry myself off.
(Io) Mi pettino.	I comb (myself) my hair.
(Io) Mi preparo per il lavoro.	I get (myself) ready for (the) work.
(Io) Mi vesto.	I get (myself) dressed.
(Io) Mi metto i vestiti.	I put on (myself) the clothes.
(Io) Mi trucco.	I put on (myself) makeup.
(Io) Mi metto la giacca e le scarpe.	I put on (myself) the jacket and the shoes.
(Io) Mi sento molto bene!	I feel very well!
Vado al lavoro./ Vado a lavorare.	I go to work.

At the end of the day:   

Torno a casa.	I return home.
(Io) Mi tolgo la giacca.	I take off (myself) the jacket.
Preparo la cena per la famiglia.	I make the dinner for the family.
Alle nove (io) mi svesto.	At nine I get (myself) undressed.
(Io) Mi tolgo le scarpe.	I take off (myself) my shoes.
(Io) Mi metto il pigiama e le ciabatte.	I put on (myself) (the) pajamas and slippers.
(Io) Mi rilasso.	I relax (myself).
(Io) Mi riposo.	I rest (myself).
(Io) Mi addormento.	I fall (myself) asleep.

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Three more important examples are listed below.  The first example is interesting because one might be tempted to translate the phrase — incorrectly of course — “I have decided to marry myself!” But, now that we know that an important function of Italian reflexive verbs is to render the idea “to get,” the sentence structure in Italian for “Ho deciso di sposarmi,” makes perfect sense.  Notice that the reflexive pronoun mi is attached to the end of the infinitive verb sposarsi.

The second examples are about “getting in trouble.”  These are phrases that are good to know but hopefully they will not have to be used on a daily basis!

Ho deciso di sposarmi.	I have decided to get married.
Non metterti nei guai!	Don’t get (put) yourself in trouble!
Mi sono messo nei guai.	I got (put) myself in trouble.

Remember how to use Italian reflexive verbs when talking about things you have ” to get”  and I guarantee you will use the every day!

Conversational Italian for Travelers: “Just the Verbs”

   Available on amazon.com and Learn Travel Italian.com