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ITALIAN WORD OF THE DAY

Italian expression of the day: ‘Bella domanda’

If you've moved to Italy, chances are you have plenty of these.

Published: 11 May 2021 18:37 CEST
Updated: 20 June 2023 16:30 CEST
Italian expression of the day: 'Bella domanda'
Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

Anyone who spends much time in Italy will soon have a few questions. For example:

Is that office ever open? Have these drivers got a death wish? And why, exactly, are there so many different types of spaghetti in the supermarket?

And if you move here and start trying to make sense of certain aspects of everyday life, today’s phrase is one you’ll start hearing more often than you’d like.

– Che documenti servono per pagare il bollo?

– Bella domanda

– Which documents do I need to pay the tax?

– Good question

Especially when it comes to bureaucracy, rules, or any sort of timetable, you might find that most Italians are often as stumped as we foreigners are – though no doubt they’ll be more confident about asking the person stood next to them, or slowing down the car to shout their query in the direction of a nearby stranger.

So don’t be surprised if people respond (or stall for time) by saying “good question”, just as we do in English.

You’ll note that bella domanda may be used rather than buona domanda, particularly when no one knows the answer.

While both are correct, there’s a slight difference in the meaning.

Bella domanda sounds as though it would translate as ‘beautiful question’, or ‘nice question’, but the adjective bella here means that the question is a big one – as in, a bit too much for the person you’re asking to handle.

Depending on tone and context, it might even be used to mean it’s a “hell of a question”.

– È una bella domanda, e al momento siamo piuttosto occupati

– That’s a hell of a question, and we’re a little busy right now

If they say buona domanda, they could be remarking more on the fact that your question is clever, fair, or interesting.

Very simply put, this is because the adjective buona is usually used to remark on the positive ‘internal’ qualities of someone or something, while bella is more for commenting on appearances, and as in this case, can also be used to add emphasis (much as we might use ‘nice’ in English:)

– Un bel lettone

–  A nice, big bed

(Here’s some more detail on the usage and different spellings.)

Other common Italian responses to what friends call my mille domande (thousand questions) include:

– dipende da chi trovi

– It depends on who you ask (literally, find)

– Boh! Vediamo.

– Who knows? We’ll see…

Do you have an Italian word you’d like us to feature? If so, please email us with your suggestion.

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For members

ITALIAN WORD OF THE DAY

Italian word of the day: Metà vs mezzo

These Italian words are both used to talk about 'half' of something, so what exactly is the difference and when should you use them?

Published: 23 April 2024 10:48 CEST
Updated: 23 April 2024 11:49 CEST
Italian word of the day: Metà vs mezzo

It’s often the case in Italy that you’ll find several words that mean something very similar, and it’s not always easy to know which one is appropriate. Our new mini series looks at some of the most common word pairs, and sorts out which should be used and when.

Why do I need to know the difference between metà and mezzo?

Because you’ll need to use both of them in daily conversation if you live in Italy, but the difference in meaning isn’t always clear.

What’s the difference?

When you want to talk about ‘half’ of something in Italian, it may seem as though you have two choices.

Depending on what you’re talking about, you could reach for either metà or mezzo (or mezza, which we’ll come to later) but many language learners say they’re not always sure which one to use in certain situations.

Put simply, the difference between metà and mezzo is much the same as the difference between ‘half’ and ‘middle’ in English.

Metà: a half, as in one of two equal parts of something.

Mezzo: the middle, as in equally distant from two points.

For example:

Ha mangiato metà torta

He ate half of the cake

Facciamo a metà

Let’s split it (in half)

E’ sdraiato in mezzo alla strada

He’s lying in the middle of the street

Non penso che ti dovrebbe mettere in mezzo

I don’t think she should be putting you in the middle of this

READ ALSO: Come stai vs come va

But is anything in Italian ever really that simple?

There are some specific situations where the two words seem to be used interchangeably, or where it’s not clear why one is typically used and not the other.

Confusion arises particularly around telling the time in Italian, as you could say:

Sono le undici e mezzo

It’s half past eleven

Il mio treno arriva alle 5.40: vediamoci dieci minuti prima, alla mezza.

My train arrives at 5.40: let’s meet ten minutes before, at half past.

Why in this case aren’t we using metà for ‘half’? And why is it sometimes mezza rather than mezzo?

The English ‘half past’ doesn’t translate literally into Italian. Mezzo is used here instead, since we’re talking about the ‘middle of’ the hour, the point equally distant between two hours.

This might take some getting used to for English native speakers, but it is pretty logical.

As for why it’s mezza in the second example, this isn’t because it needs to agree with the gender of the noun in the sentence.

In fact, dictionaries tell us it’s always more correct to use mezzo regardless (although many Italians themselves find this rule confusing.)

But, in this case, as the language guardians at Italy’s Accademia della Crusca explain, mezza may (if you prefer) be used instead of mezzo when we already know the time, or at least the hour, being talked about.

So if you had earlier told someone an event would start at 8pm, but it’s now been delayed by half an hour, you could then say:

Comincerà alle otto e mezza

But if you’re inviting someone for the first time, you’d probably stick to:

Alle otto e mezzo

This can be a lot to remember when you’re in the middle of a conversation, but with practice you’ll soon get a feel for which word sounds right in which context. 

Do you have an Italian word you’d like us to feature? If so, please email us with your suggestion.

Make sure you don’t miss any of our Italian words and expressions of the day: download our new app (available on Apple and Android) and then selecting the Italian Word of the Day in your Notification options via the User button.

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