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ITALIAN WORD OF THE DAY

Italian expression of the day: ‘Quanto ti devo?’

We owe you this one.

Italian expression of the day quanto ti devo
Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

The first time someone asks you quanto ti devo? in Italian, you might be a little confused.

The verb dovere usually means ‘to have to’, ‘must’, or ‘ought to/should’ in English, while quanto means ‘how much’ and ti is the object pronoun for tu, the singular ‘you’ – so if you’re translating as you go along, you’ll likely understand something along the lines of ‘how much should I to you?’

Of course, that makes no sense – but reaching for the dictionary, you’ll find one more, less widely-used definition of dovere: to owe.

Quanto ti devo?, then, simply means ‘How much do I owe you?’

You’ll most often hear this meaning of dovere used in reference to money, or favours.

Ho pagato per i bigliettimi dovete 10 euro a testa.
I paid for the tickets, you owe me 10 euros each.

Chiederò ad Angela di darci un passaggio, mi deve un favore.
I’ll ask Angela to give us a ride, she owes me a favour.

Viperissima A Te Non Ti Devo GIF - Viperissima A Te Non Ti Devo Uomini GIFs
Gif reads: I don’t owe you any explanation.

But – just like ‘owe’ – dovere can also be used in a more abstract sense, to talk about something being ‘owing’ to something or someone else.

Deve a me tutta la sua carriera, potrebbe essere più riconoscente.
He owes his entire career to me, he could be more grateful.

Questa organizzazione deve la sua intera esistenza a lei.
This organisation owes its entire existence to her.

If you want to say ‘I owe you one’, you can say te ne devo una (ne being a pronoun that means ‘of it’ or ‘of them’, and una of course meaning ‘one’).

Grazie Ale, te ne devo una.
Thanks Ale, I owe you one.

Remember that dovere should conjugate with the person or people who are doing the owing (the subject), rather than the person who is owed (the object). 

Though it can be used with other tenses, the vast majority of the times dovere is used in this sense, it’s in the present simple or past continuous forms.

Gli doveva parecchi soldi.
She owed them a lot of money.

Le dobbiamo delle scuse.
We owe her an apology.

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For members

ITALIAN WORD OF THE DAY

Italian expression of the day: ‘Al volo’

We’re sure you’ll learn this Italian phrase in no time.

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.

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