Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK
For members

DRIVING

The key vocabulary you’ll need for taking your driving test in Italy

Taking your driving test in Italian may be a daunting prospect, but having a firm grasp of the key vocabulary will help you on your way.

Published: 13 March 2024 10:25 CET
car windscreen Rome
Windscreen of a Fiat 500, parked in a street of Rome. Photo by GABRIEL BOUYS / AFP.

If you’re looking to take (or retake) your driving test in Italy and do not speak Italian, French or German, you might have to brush up on your language skills; these are the only three languages you can take your Italian driving theory test in. English is not available.

To take your esame di teoria guida (theory test) the easiest route is to sign up with an autoscuola (driving school). Read more about taking the exam here and find some more resources for practicing the language needed for your Italian driving theory test.

READ ALSO: Who needs to exchange their driving license for an Italian one?

Once you pass the theory test, you’ll receive authorisation to practise driving ahead of your practical exam with a foglio rosa (provisional driving licence). There must also be a ‘P’ sign on the back of your auto/macchina (car) for to indicate you are a principiante (learner).

At least six hours of practical driving lessons will be mandatory ahead of the practical test – even if you’ve passed a driving test before in another country.

So whether or not you’re already confident behind the wheel, here’s a rundown of the parts of the car you’ll need to be able to identify in Italian.

To get the car going you’ll press and hold la frizione (the clutch pedal). You’ll do this to innestare la frizione (engage the clutch). Slowly press down on the the acceleratore (accelerator pedal) to get going, before turning the volante (steering wheel).

If you are at an incrocio (junction) and specifically at an incrocio a T (t-junction) remember to turn on your indicatore di direzione/freccia (indicator) to girare (turn). You will also have to do this at a rotonda (roundabout).

READ MORE: The worst Italian driving habits – according to Italians

You’ll also have to use your freni (brakes) if there is a semaforo rosso (red traffic light), semaforo giallo (amber traffic light) or traffico (traffic).

You can guidare (drive) again when there is a semaforo verde (green traffic light).

You must also stop when there is a segnale di stop (stop sign) or pedoni (pedestrians) crossing the road. When your car frena (brakes), your luci dei freni (brake lights) will show.

You might need a lot of new vocabulary if your car develops a fault. Photo: Ida Guldbæk Arentsen/Ritzau Scanpix

If it is raining, you’ll use your tergicristalli (windscreen wipers) to wipe your parabrezza (windscreen/ windshield). If it is dark, but there are other cars, turn on your fari (headlights). If it’s exceptionally dark and there is no one around, turn on your fari abbaglianti (high beams). 

The pneumatici/gomme (tires) are also an important part of the car that you should keep an eye on in case one of them becomes a pneumatico/gomma a terra (flat tire). If you have this problem, you might have to visit a meccanico (mechanic).

READ ALSO: Reader question: Can I drive a minicar in Italy without a driver’s licence?

After driving on either le strade (roads) or le autostrade (highways/motorways), you’ll eventually have to parcheggiare (park). You might have to reverse park in which case you’ll have to mettere in retromarcia (go in reverse gear). After you’ve stopped, make sure to put on your freno a mano (handbrake) and check your specchietto (wing mirror).

After passing your practical test, you’ll get your patente di guida (driver’s licence), which in this case will probably be a patente B (category B licence), from your local Ufficio della Motorizzazione Civile (Civil Motorisation office). After you receive your licence, you’ll legally be a guidatore (driver).

Just remember to wear your cintura (seatbelt) in the car as it is a legal obligation.

Other useful terms

One way – Senso unico 

U-turn – Inversione a u

Toll – Pedaggio

Disengage the clutch – Disinnestare la frizione

Roadblock – Blocco stradale

Licence plate – Targa

Battery – Batteria

Right of way – Diritto di precedenza

For more information on taking your driving test in Italy, check the Italian transport ministry’s page on steps to obtain a Patente B.

Member comments

  1. Correction: the theory exam is actually 30 questions in 20 minutes. Three errors or less is a pass.

    It is recomended to download one of the free driving theory Apps and then do at least seven practice quizzes a day.

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

LEARNING ITALIAN

The key Italian vocabulary you’ll need for a doctor’s visit

Seeing a doctor can be a challenging experience if you’re new to the Italian healthcare system, but possibly even more so if your 'dottore' doesn't have a good command of English.

Published: 17 April 2024 12:16 CEST
The key Italian vocabulary you’ll need for a doctor’s visit

Seeing a doctor is usually seen as a fairly uncomplicated task but everything gets a little harder when you’re in a new country, and Italy is really no exception as its healthcare system can be fairly tricky to navigate at first.

Additionally, not all Italian doctors are competent and confident English speakers, which means that their vocabulary may not be enough to cover the full extent of medical terms and procedures involved in an ordinary visit and they may naturally switch to talking to you in their native tongue when asking questions or providing information. 

As such, having some handy vocabulary under your belt can be a big help when trying to bridge any language gaps during your first appointments.

Making an appointment

In order to get an appointment (visita) with a public general practitioner (medico di base), you must be registered with the Italian national healthcare system (Servizio Sanitario Nazionale, or SSN) and hold an Italian health card (tessera sanitaria).

READ ALSO: Italian healthcare: Should you switch from public to private insurance?

Further, while in some countries you may call the local clinic (ambulatorio) and book an appointment with any doctor on duty, that is not how things usually work in Italy.

In order to see an Italian GP, you must be under the care of that particular doctor. Info on how to register with one of the professionals operating in the area covered by your local health authority (Azienda Sanitaria Locale, ASL) can be found here.

Doctor speaking on the phone

A doctor speaks on the phone while inside his office. Photo by Nicolas TUCAT / AFP

Once you’ve registered with a GP, you can go ahead and book your first appointment. You can generally do so via phone, email or, in some cases, online.

When booking by email or phone, you may be given an overview of the doctor’s office hours (orari di apertura) and asked what day (giorno) and time (ora) you’d like to schedule the appointment (fissare la visita). Should you need to reschedule the appointment later on, you could ask: Sarebbe possibile spostare la visita?

Remember: if you’re in need of an urgent appointment, you can ask to see a doctor from Italy’s Guardia Medica, a medical care centre that operates outside of GPs’ normal working hours and on weekends, or visit your local hospital’s ER (pronto soccorso).

Seeing your doctor

Though they provide patients with a set appointment time, Italian clinics tend to run a little late, so you may have to wait for your turn in the waiting room (sala d’attesa).

Also, new patients are usually handed a form (modulo) to fill out with general information about themselves and their overall health (stato di salute) just before their first appointment. 

Once you’re in their office (ufficio), your doctor (dottore for a man and dottoressa for a woman) will enquire about the reasons behind your visit. 

If you’re there for a routine checkup, you could say that you’re visiting for a simple controllo. But if you’re there for any type of health problem, you’ll likely be asked what your symptoms (sintomi) are. 

You may have fairly common symptoms – for instance, a cough (tosse), a sore throat (mal di gola), fever (febbre) or headache (mal di testa).

READ ALSO: Coughs, colds and flu: What to say and do if you fall sick in Italy

But if you don’t really know what you have or don’t exactly know how to describe it in Italian, don’t worry: you can just indicate where the pain is coming from by saying mi fa male followed by the part of your body that’s aching (stomach, or stomaco, abdomen, or addome, chest, or petto, etc.).

Doctor speaking with patient inside his office

A doctor speaks with one of his patients inside his office. Photo by PASCAL POCHARD-CASABIANCA / AFP

At this point, your doctor may ask you further questions on the type of pain you’re feeling – for instance, whether you have a throbbing (pulsante) or stabbing (lancinante) pain – and ask you to lie down (stendersi) or sit (sedersi) on their table (lettino) to perform a physical examination. 

Among other things, the doctor might measure your heart rate (battito cardiaco) and blood pressure (pressione sanguigna), look in your throat or ears with a torch, or listen to your heart or lungs with a stethoscope (stetoscopio).

Further tests and medicines

Depending on the outcome of the physical examination, your doctor may refer you to a specialist for further diagnostic exams and tests (esami diagnostici), including blood tests (esami del sangue), an MRI scan (risonanza magnetica), an ultrasound (ecografia) or an ECG (elettrocardiogramma). 

But if the source and nature of your health problem is already clear to your doctor, you’ll likely be given a prescription (ricetta) for the purchase of medicines (medicine) as well as some instructions to follow to achieve full recovery (completa guarigione).

READ ALSO: Why are medicines so expensive in Italy?

Medicines may come in the form of powder (in polvere), tablets (pastiglie or compresse), drops (gocce) or syrup (sciroppo).

Remember: Italian doctors tend to have fairly bad handwriting (locals often jokingly refer to it as ‘hieroglyphs’), so make sure you know exactly what you need to get at the pharmacy (farmacia) as well as how many times a day (volte) you need to take each medicine. 

SHOW COMMENTS