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ITALIAN WORD OF THE DAY

Italian word of the day: ‘Pronto’

Get ready to learn a little more about this familiar term.

Published: 16 September 2019 19:16 CEST
Updated: 3 June 2024 10:04 CEST

Italian word of the day: 'Pronto'

Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

Languages are constantly borrowing words from other tongues, but we tend to pick and choose what we want them to mean.

Take pronto: we say it in English to mean ‘quickly’, which isn’t wrong, exactly, but neither is it the whole story.

READ ALSO: Eight Italian words native speakers would never use

In Italian pronto can indeed mean ‘quick’, ‘speedy’ or ‘prompt’:

Le ho augurato una pronta guarigione.
I wished her a speedy recovery.

Ha i riflessi pronti.
She has quick reflexes.

La pronta consegna è garantita.
Prompt delivery is guaranteed.

But more often it means ‘ready’, both in the sense of ‘prepared’…

È pronto il pranzo?
Is lunch ready?

Non sono pronto per l’esame di domani.
I’m not ready for tomorrow’s test.

… and in the sense of ‘willing’.

Sono pronta a tutto per aiutarlo.
I’m ready to do anything to help him.

È sempre pronto al perdono.
He’s always willing to forgive.

It comes from the Latin verb promo, ‘to take forth’. Something ‘taken forth’ is promptu – ‘in sight’, ‘at hand’, or simply ‘ready’.

That’s why, if you’re getting ready for a race in Italy, you’ll hear whoever’s got the starting gun call out: “Pronti… via!” It’s the equivalent of ‘Ready, set, go’.

And that’s also why you’ll hear it almost every time you pick up the phone. Italians typically answer a call by saying: “Ready?”

Pronto? Chi parla?
Hello? Who’s speaking?

But where you won’t hear it is when you’re talking about something urgent – something that needs to be done, pronto. When you want to translate an English pronto into Italian, it’s more natural to use the word subito (‘right away’) instead.

Lo faccio subito.
I’ll do it pronto.

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

Don’t miss any of our Italian words and expressions of the day by downloading 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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Italian expression of the day: ‘Al volo’

If you’ve ever found yourself at an Italian airport and looked up at the departure board, there’s a good chance you’re already familiar with the word volo, which is the Italian equivalent of ‘flight’ – but also the first person singular of the verb volare (to fly) in the present tense.

And if you’re a fan of classical music, you may of course have heard of Italy’s famous opera trio Il Volo (‘The Flight’).

But what do Italians mean when they say they’re going to do something al volo (hear it pronounced here)?

Much like its closest English equivalent, ‘on the fly’, al volo has very little to do with aircraft or flying as it’s one of the most common Italian phrases to say that you’re doing something ‘quickly’ or ‘readily’, often without having prepared it or thought about it much beforehand.

Facciamoci una pasta al volo e poi usciamo.

Let’s cook some pasta on the fly and then get out.

Ho dovuto preparare la presentazione al volo perché non mi avevano avvisato della riunione.

I had to put the presentation together on the fly as I’d not been notified of the meeting.

But usage of al volo is not limited to practical actions or tasks you may do quickly and without much thought.

In fact, you can also pair it with the verb capire (understand), comprendere (comprehend) or imparare (learn) to say that you grasped something ‘immediately’ or ‘in no time’, meaning you won’t need any further explanation.

Tuo figlio capisce tutto al volo. Ha un grande futuro davanti a lui, a mio parere.

Your son understands everything in no time. He’s got a great future ahead of him, in my opinion.

And if you haven’t fully understood or grasped something on your first try (which is painfully likely when dealing with Italy’s infamous red tape, even for locals), don’t worry: you’ll always have the option to ask a domanda al volo, or a ‘quick question’, to clear up your doubts.

Another popular way to use the phrase is in relation to big opportunities, whether that be in life, in education or at work. So an opportunity that va presa al volo must be seized immediately as it’s too good to be missed.

Finally, if you’re planning on watching Euro 2024 matches on Italian TV over the next month, you may hear football commentators use al volo multiple times while analysing a match as colpire la palla al volo means to strike it while it’s in the air, or ‘volley’ it.

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

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

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