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ITALIAN WORD OF THE DAY

Italian word of the day: ‘Posso’

Can you get to grips with this extremely common term?

Italian word of the day: 'Posso'
Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

Today’s word is just one form of a fundamental Italian verb: potere, ‘to be able to’ or ‘can’. 

You’ll need to master potere in all its forms and tenses, but let’s concentrate for now on the first-person present tense: posso, ‘I can’.

Posso parlare tre lingue.
I can speak three languages.

Non posso venire.
I can’t come.

As well as indicating what you are and aren’t capable of doing, posso can be a question: ‘Can I?’ or more politely, ‘May I?’

Naturally, you can specify what you’re asking permission to do…

Posso entrare?
Can I come in?

Posso parlarti?
May I have a word with you?

… or you can just leave the whole thing up to context.

You might hear a waiter ask, simply, “Posso?” when he wants to know if he can clear your plate, and it’s all you need to say as you point to a seat on the train if you want to check that you’re free to sit down.

In this respect it’s a handy complement to permesso, another polite term for asking for permission. 

The two are similar, but while permesso tends to have a more limited application – chiefly, when you’re checking it’s ok to enter a space or move around it – posso clears you to do things as well. Such as help yourself to that second serving of pasta.

See our complete Word of the Day archive here.

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

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ITALIAN WORD OF THE DAY

Italian word of the day: ‘Rimorchiare’

Here's an Italian word you'll want to pick up.

Italian word of the day: 'Rimorchiare'

If you’ve ever studied for your foglio rosa (provisional driver’s licence) exam in Italy, you’re sure to have come across the word rimorchio (trailer).

Theory test T/F question: ‘The width of the trailer must never exceed that of the vehicle pulling it.’

Credo che dovremo noleggiare un rimorchio per trasportare tutta la merce.
I think we might need to rent a trailer to transport all the goods.

And rimorchiare, along with the more formal trainare, means to haul or tow.

La barca è stata rimorchiata a riva.
The boat was towed to shore.

But rimorchiare isn’t just used to talk about vehicles. It also means to pick or chat someone up, or hook up with them.

Sono usciti per rimorchiare.
They’ve gone out on the pull.

Se n’è appena andata con un tipo che ha rimorchiato.
She just left with some guy she picked up.

A rimorchiatore is a tugboat, but can also mean a player/persistent flirt, and rimorchione/a also describes someone who’s constantly chatting people up.

got talent nina GIF by Italia's Got Talent

In some parts of the country, meanwhile, you might hear someone described as a provolone – a big tryhard or wannabe player.

That’s a wordplay based on the reflexive verb provarci, meaning ‘to try it on with’, and the famous Italian cheese. 

È un gran provolone ma non riesce mai a rimorchiare.
He’s a real tryhard but he never manages to pull.

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

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