Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK
For members

ITALIAN WORD OF THE DAY

Italian expression of the day: ‘Piove sul bagnato’

This could be a lucky Italian phrase - depending on how fortunate you are to begin with.

Published: 17 December 2021 09:18 CET
Updated: 15 November 2023 15:42 CET
Italian expression of the day piove sul bagnato
Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

If it’s absolutely tipping it down, or ‘raining cats and dogs’, the Italian equivalent would be: ‘piovando sul bagnato‘, meaning it’s ‘raining on the wet’ (literally ‘soaked’).

The imagery is clear: it’s a very rainy day indeed and things are only getting wetter.

But the expression piove sul bagnato has more meaning behind it than simply describing grim weather.

In modern Italian, the saying is used to indicate that unpleasant events or, on the contrary, pleasant ones, happen to those who are already experiencing enough of them.

READ ALSO: Ten phrases to talk about cold and wet weather like a true Italian

So good luck will come to those who are already blessed by good fortune, while further adversity befalls those who are already unlucky.

It could be translated into English as ‘Fortune favours the fortunate’.

Dopo avere ereditato una grossa somma di denaro, ha anche vinto alla lotteria. Beh, piove sul bagnato

After inheriting a large sum of money, he also won the lottery. Well, fortune favours the fortunate.

It can also be used in a negative sense if things aren’t going your way. A bit like the English expression ‘It never rains, but it pours’.

I miei affari sono crollati, mia moglie mi ha lasciato e la banca si è ripresa la mia casa, tutto nel giro di un anno. Le disgrazie non arrivano mai da sole, a quanto pare.

My business collapsed, my wife left me, and the bank repossessed my home, all in the space of a year. Misfortunes never come alone, it seems.

If a friend listed all these terrible things that happened to them, you might say:

Piove sul bagnato. È proprio vero, che le disgrazie non vengono mai sole

It never rains but it pours. You’re really having a run of bad luck.

Can we change our fortunes? Well, it never hurts to wish someone good luck with a friendly ‘In bocca al lupo‘.

Try your luck and give this Italian phrase a go this week.

Do you have a favourite Italian word, phrase or expression you’d like us to feature? If so, please email us with your suggestion.

Member comments

  1. Love your word translations, as there are so many that are not common and yet so descriptive of the actions. Thank you for these great translations.\

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.
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.

SHOW COMMENTS