If you’ve spent some time in Italy before, you may have heard the word verso (pronunciation here) crop up in conversation from time to time. And you may have heard it used in very different contexts too.
That’s because verso, stemming from the Latin verb vertĕre (which means ‘to turn’), has several meanings, all of which are popular in day-to-day Italian.
Directions and approximation
In its primary meaning, verso is a preposition corresponding to the English ‘towards’ or ‘to’.
Siamo andati verso la chiesa per scoprire da dove veniva la musica.
We headed towards the church to find out where the music was coming from.
Fai cinque passi verso sinistra e poi salta.
Take five steps to your left and then jump.
Navighiamo verso sud.
We sail south.
As a preposition, it’s also used as a substitute for nei confronti di, meaning ‘for’…
Devi dimostrare rispetto verso gli anziani.
You need to show respect for the elderly.
And to express an approximate time:
Ci troviamo verso le nove.
We’ll meet around nine.
But verso is also a noun, which translates pretty cleanly to the English ‘way’ or ‘direction’.
In che verso è andato?
Which way did he go?
In che verso dovremmo andare?
What direction should we go?
Non c’è verso di farla ragionare.
There’s no way to get her to reason.
When used in relation to coins or flat surfaces, it can also mean ‘side’.
Testa o croce? Che verso scegli?
Heads or tails? Which side do you pick?
Sounds
As a noun, verso is also a general term to describe any noise made by any type of animal.
Che verso fa una scimmia?
What sound does a monkey make?
Il verso del leone è spaventoso.
A lion’s sound is scary.
It can also be used in relation to humans, especially in the case of inarticulate sounds.
Claudia ha emesso uno strano verso mentre mangiava.
Claudia made a strange sound while she was eating.
Poetry
In poetry and songwriting, verso means ‘verse’.
Questa poesia ha 10 versi.
This poem has 10 verses.
Il Mahābhārata, il poema più lungo del mondo, ha 220.000 versi.
The Mahābhārata, the longest poem in the world, has 220,000 verses.
Versare – ‘to pour’
Finally, it’s also worth noting that verso is the first person singular of the present tense of the verb versare, meaning ‘to pour’.
Unfortunately, there’s no way to tell which meaning of verso is being used other than from the context of a conversation.
As a rule of thumb, paying extra attention to the words immediately before or after verso can help you identify the meaning.
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