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ITALIAN WORD OF THE DAY

Italian expression of the day: ‘Me ne vado’

Here's one for when it's time to take your leave.

Italian expression of the day me ne vado
Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

(Iovado – the first person singular of ‘to go’, andare – is one of the first phrases you’ll learn as a foreigner studying Italian.

But after you’ve been listening to people speak the language for a while, you’ll notice that the alternative formulation me ne vado, from andarsene, also comes up regularly in conversation.

What is the difference between the basic andare and andarsene?

The most simple explanation is that andare is simply to go somewhere, while andarsene is specifically to go away from somewhere.

Stasera vado a vedere uno spettacolo al teatro.
This evening I’m going to see a play at the theatre.

OK ragà, ora devo andarmene.
OK guys, I have to leave now.

Andarsene is a pronominal verb, which is just a verb with pronouns added on. In this case there are two additions: the reflexive pronouns mi/ti/si/ci/vi, followed by the pronoun ne.

While the reflexive pronoun in andarsene has to change (along with the conjugation of the verb itself) to agree with the sentence subject, the ne always stays the same. You can think of it as standing in for ‘from here/there’ or ‘of here/there’ – so me ne vado can mean ‘I’m getting out of here’ or ‘I’m leaving (from here)’.

You might have noticed that the reflexive pronoun in the phrase me ne vado isn’t mi, but me. That’s because when reflexive pronouns are directly followed by another pronoun in Italian, the ‘i’ changes to ‘e’; so here we have me ne vado/te ne vai/se ne va/se ne vanno/ce ne andiamo/ve ne andate.

Adding pronoun combinations like se ne to an Italian verb often adds a subtle emotional nuance, either positive or negative. So while (io) vado is neutral, me ne vado might have an abrupt or irritated quality (if, say, you’re storming out of the room after an argument) or an upbeat one (if you’re heading off to do something nice). It’s something you can only really infer from context and tone.

Se continuate a parlare così se ne andranno.
If you keep on talking like that they’re going to walk out.

Ce ne andiamo a fare una bella passeggiata?
Shall we head out for a nice walk?

Note that andarsene can also refer to someone passing away or dying, in a way that andare can’t.

La nonna se n’è andata ieri sera.
Grandma left us yesterday evening.

If you want an alternative to andarsene, in most contexts you can use andare via to mean much the same thing.

Vattene!
Get out of here!

Va’ via!
Beat it!

Go Away GIF

The main difference is that you can use andarsene in a sentence to describe either going away from somewhere or leaving to go to somewhere else or to do something else, whereas with andare via you’d generally only reference the place being left.

Dice che se ne andrà dalla Francia.
He says he’s leaving France.

Fra un mese vanno via da Londra.
In a month they’re leaving London.

Me ne sono andata a vedere un film.
I went to go see a film.

If you want to add emphasis, you can use andarsene and andare via in combination.

Appena abbiamo la possibilità, ce ne andremo via da qui.
As soon as we get the chance, we’re busting out of here.

Se ne sono andati via insieme in macchina circa un’ora fa.
They drove off together about an hour ago.

And with that, ce ne andiamo.

Arnold Schwarzenegger Movie GIF by Lionsgate Home Entertainment

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ITALIAN WORD OF THE DAY

Italian expression of the day: ‘Cambiare registro’

Here's the Italian phrase you'll need if you're looking for a change.

Italian expression of the day: ‘Cambiare registro’

If you live in Italy or have spent a considerable amount of time in the country, you may have overheard an Italian parent telling their child they needed to cambiare registro right after they threw a tantrum. 

If you work or have worked in Italy, you may also have had one of your superiors tell you that a cambio di registro was needed in the office. 

But what do Italians really mean when they tell someone they need to ‘change register’?

Italians use cambiare registro to tell someone that they need to change their behaviour, manners or way to approach a particular task (including work or school assignments), usually because they’re not particularly happy with the way they’re currently handling things. 

It is generally used with the verb dovere (must/have to), which must be conjugated according to the person who could do with a ‘change of register’. For instance:

Non hai passato gli ultimi tre test. Devi cambiare registro se vuoi tenere la tua paghetta settimanale.  

You failed the past three exams. You need to turn things around if you want to keep your weekly allowance.

La tua performance al lavoro e’ stata insoddisfacente questo trimestre. Devi veramente cambiare registro il prossimo mese.

Your performance at work has been unsatisfactory this quarter. You really need to turn things around next month.

You could also say that a situation you’re unhappy with needs ‘a change of register’, without addressing anyone in particular. 

Ci sono cose ovunque. C’e’ bisogno di un cambio di registro in questa casa.

There’s stuff all over the place. Changes are needed in this house.

As you can see from these examples, there’s no single way to translate the phrase into English, though ‘turning things around’ and ‘changing up’ are popular translations.

And if you’re wondering where the expression comes from, it has nothing to do with Italy’s Registry Office (or Anagrafe), nor with any other part of the country’s public administration. 

Cambiare registro was originally a music-related expression as it referred to the act of changing the tone or range (registro in Italian) of some musical instruments, including pipe organs.

But, as in the case of many other Italian phrases and expressions, its usage was later extended to daily life situations to express a need for major changes.

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