When someone tells you “ti conviene…” they might be doing any of offering a friendly piece of advice, giving instructions, issuing a veiled threat, or complaining – whichever it is, you’d better (ti conviene) pay attention.

The phrase – the second person indirect object pronoun ti followed by the third person singular conjugation of the verb convenire – can mean any of ‘It is advisable to you/ it is convenient to you/ it suits you/ you should/ you’d better’, but sounds more natural than most of those options do in English.

Ti conviene darti una mossa, il treno parte fra un’ora.
You’d better get a move on, the train leaves in an hour.

Non ti conviene andare a quest’ora, l’ufficio sarà già chiuso.
You don’t want to go at this hour, the office will already be closed.

Ti interessi alle nostre vite solo quando ti conviene.
You only take an interest in our lives when it suits you.

You’ll notice it’s always followed by an infinitive verb, and you can switch out the pronoun with any of mi/ti/le/gli/vi/ci depending on who you’re talking about (or to).

Non mi conviene accettare questo lavoro se si tratta di un viaggio di due ore a tratta.
It’s not worth it for me to take this job if it involves a two hour commute each way.

Gli conviene dirci la verità.
It’s in his best interests to tell us the truth.

or simply dispense with it altogether:

Conviene prenotare in anticipo, gli alberghi si riempiono rapidamente in questo periodo dell’anno.
It’s worth booking ahead, the hotels book up quickly this time of year.

Non conviene andare in spiaggia in agosto, sarà strapiena di gente.
It’s not worth going to the beach in August, it’ll be packed to the gills.

The verb’s infinitive form convenire, can, used differently, also mean ‘to agree upon’, ‘to gather or assemble’, or ‘to be cheap’ (conveniente is an Italian false friend, meaning ‘affordable’ rather than ‘convenient’).

Comprare le cose dal mercatino dell’usato conviene sempre.
It’s always cheaper to shop at the second hand market.

Now you know how to use this phrase, ti conviene try it out in a conversation at the first opportunity.

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