SHARE
COPY LINK
For members

ITALIAN WORD OF THE DAY

Italian expression of the day: ‘Non ti preoccupare’

This phrase is nothing to worry about.

Italian expression of the day: 'Non ti preoccupare'
Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

The meaning of today’s phrase is simple: non ti preoccupare, ‘don’t worry about it’. 

Non ti preoccupare, ci penso io.
Don’t worry about it, I’ll take care of it.

– Scusa il disturbo.
– Vai tranquillo, non ti preoccupare.

– Sorry to bother you.
– Don’t worry about it, go ahead.

While preoccupare comes from the same Latin root that gave us ‘preoccupy’ in English, this Italian verb means ‘to worry’ or ‘to fret’. Just imagine your head being so ‘occupied’ by anxieties that you can’t think of anything else.

But you don’t need to concern yourself with that, since we’re talking about doing just the opposite. 

The only thing you might need to (ahem) worry about is whether you should say non ti preoccupare or non preoccuparti, which is such a source of confusion that even Italians have dedicated heated forum threads to it.

The short answer is: you can say either interchangeably.

They both mean exactly the same thing, non preoccuparti is just the reflexive form of the verb. It’s the difference between ‘worrying’ and ‘worrying yourself’.

Just bear in mind that preoccupare is transitive (it needs a direct object), so you use it to say that something worries you. In this case the verb agrees with the thing or things (third person singular/plural), not with the person it’s worrying. 

La sua salute mi preoccupa.
Her health worries me.

Preoccuparsi, on the other hand, is intransitive (it doesn’t need a direct object) and you use the preposition per to specify who or what you’re worrying about. The verb is conjugated according to the person doing the worrying.

Mi preoccupo per la sua salute.
I worry about her health.

If it helps you decide between the two, according to Google there are around 5 million more hits for non preoccuparti than non ti preoccupare.

But personally I prefer non ti preoccupare – or as we say in Rome, non ti preoccupa’.

Don’t spend too much time thinking about it: just pick one and… you know the rest.

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

Member comments

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: ‘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.

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.

SHOW COMMENTS