Modern Italian Grammar: A Practical Guide, Third Edition (2013)

Part B. Functions

III. Expressing emotions, feelings, attitudes and opinions

25. Expressing emotions: positive, negative, other

25.1 Introduction

The ways in which emotion can be expressed vary from straightforward vocal interjections (see 25.2 below), for example Ah, oh, ahimé …, to exclamations such as Che bello! ‘That's lovely!’ or Quanto mi piace questa casa! ‘I like this house so much!’, through to more complex statements, for example Mi dispiace che tu abbia avuto tanti problemi ‘I'm sorry that you've had so many problems’.

Here are some of the ways in which we use language to express emotion in Italian, whether positive, negative or neutral.

25.2 Interjections (positive, negative, other)

Emotions can often be conveyed with very simple utterances, which have no specific meaning in themselves, but can be inserted at any point in the conversation and can express a variety of emotions according to the context. These include:

Simple vowel sounds, in general expressing surprise, amazement, shock or horror:
Ah! Oh! Eh! Uh!

Sounds indicating doubt, uncertainty:
Boh!

Expressing perplexity and sometimes exasperation:
Mah!
Mah! Chissà come andrà a finire!
Well, I don't know! Who knows how it will end up!

Expressing embarrassment:
Ehm!

Expressing doubt but sounding almost challenging:

Painful feelings (physical or psychological):
(Note that the h is silent — it is not pronounced — in all these interjections.)
Ahi! Ahimè! Ohimè!
Ahi! Mi sono scottato!
Ouch! I've burnt myself!

Ahi serva Italia, di dolore ostello
Alas, Italy enslaved, wherein dwells grief (Dante, Purgatorio VI, 76)

Ahimè è finito il vino!
Oh no, the wine is finished!
(Literally: Alas!)

Expressing boredom, impatience, irritation:
Uffa! Non ce la faccio più!
Enough! I can't stand it any longer!
(no exact translation exists in English)

25.3 Expressing positive emotions

25.3.1 Exclamations

Common adjectives (see 1.4), sometimes accompanying nouns, can be used as exclamations, expressing for example pleasure, admiration, enthusiasm, approval, gratitude. Obviously there is a wide range of adjectives that can be used, though only a few are shown here:

Bello!
Beautiful!

Bravo! Bravissimo!
Well done!

Buon'idea!
Good idea!

Eccellente!
Excellent!

Eccezionale!
Exceptional!

Fantastico!
Fantastic!

Magnifico!
Magnificent!

Ottimo!
Very good!

Ottima idea!
Wonderful idea!

Perfetto!
Perfect!

Stupendo!
Wonderful!

Adjectives can be used with the verb essere to convey positive feelings about someone or something:

È magnifico!
It's magnificent!

È un regalo stupendo!
It's a splendid present!

È bravissimo il solista.
The soloist is really good.

Che (see 3.6.5) can be used with common adjectives such as bello, buono and also with nouns to express a positive emotion:

Che bello!
How nice!

Che bravo!
How clever!

Che buono!
How good!

Che bel bambino!
What a beautiful child!

Che meraviglia!
How wonderful!

Che piacere!
What a pleasure!

Che serata perfetta!
What a perfect evening!

Che bella giornata!
What a lovely day!

Adjectives can also be used in combination with the adverbs quanto (see 6.3.3) or come (see 6.3.3) to express an emotion or reaction:

Quanto sei bella stasera!
How lovely you look tonight!

Quant'è bravo quello studente!
How clever that student is!

Come sei furbo!
How crafty you are!

Another exclamation, which is untranslatable but expresses admiration as well as amazement, is:

Caspita!
Wow! (the translation is approximate)

25.3.2 Satisfaction, admiration, happiness, pleasure

Essere, rimanere

The verbs essere and rimanere can both be used with a past participle or an adjective to express feelings or reactions. Rimanere takes essere in the compound tenses.

Il direttore era molto soddisfatto del mio lavoro.
The manager was very satisfied with my work.

I ragazzi erano contenti dei regali che gli ho portato dagli USA.
The kids were pleased with the presents I brought them from the USA.

Siamo rimasti veramente delusi della nostra esperienza.
We were really disappointed with our experience.

Sei rimasta contenta dei voti che hai preso?
Were you happy with the marks you got?

Contento, felice, soddisfatto

The adjectives contento, felice, soddisfatto can either be followed by di and the verb infinitive (see 2.2.1) or by che introducing a dependent clause. The verb in this clause is normally in the subjunctive (see 2.2.14) in a more formal context or in the indicative (see 2.2.2) in a less formal context:

Era contento di venire con voi.
He was happy to come with you.

Gli studenti erano soddisfatti di aver superato gli esami.
The students were satisfied at having got through the exams.

Sono felice che Lei possa venire al convegno. (subjunctive)
I'm glad you can come to the conference.

Sono contento che vieni anche tu stasera. (indicative)
I'm happy you're coming too tonight.

Fare piacere

The phrase fare piacere means ‘to give pleasure’ (literally ‘to make pleasure’). The subject of the verb is the action, event or item giving pleasure, expressed by a noun, a verb infinitive or che and the subjunctive, as shown in the three examples below. The person who takes pleasure in the action or event or item — here shown in italics — is indicated by a name or a noun (with a) or an indirect object pronoun (see 3.4.2):

Questa notizia farà molto piacere a Marco.
(Subject: Questa notizia)
This news will make Marco very happy.

Al professore ha fatto piacere sentire le nostre notizie.
(Subject: sentire le nostre notizie)
The teacher was happy to hear our news.

Ci fa piacere che i ragazzi stiano tutti bene.
(Subject: che i ragazzi stiano tutti bene)
We're happy that the kids are all well.

▶ See also 28.2.

25.3.3 Approval, appreciation, gratitude

Some expressions of approval, appreciation and gratitude include:

Simple phrases

D'accordo!
Agreed!

Giusto!
Right!

Sono trenta euro.

That's thirty euros.

(Va) Bene!
All right!

Certo!
Sure!

Va bene così?
Is that all right?

Benissimo!
Very good!

Esatto!
Precisely!

Sì, va bene.

Yes, fine.

Chiaro!
Of course!

▶ See also 27.2.1.

Fare bene

The phrase fare bene addressed to someone expresses satisfaction or approval of their action:

Fai bene a dirmelo.
You are right to tell me.

Daniela ha fatto bene a scegliere l'Università di Viterbo.
Daniela did well to choose the University of Viterbo.

25.3.4 Relief

Some expressions of relief include:

Grazie al cielo!
Thank heavens!

Meno male!
Just as well! Thank goodness!

Per fortuna!
Luckily!

Meno male che ti sei informato.
Just as well you took the trouble to find out.

Per fortuna è arrivato subito il medico.
Luckily the doctor arrived straightaway.

25.3.5 Support

Some expressions of support and solidarity include:

Evviva!
Hooray!

Viva gli sposi!
Long live the bride and groom!

25.3.6 Interest or enthusiasm

The following expressions express interest and enthusiasm of varying degrees.

Interessare (verb used both transitively and intransitively)

Interessare ‘to interest’ can be used either transitively or intransitively and the meaning in each case is very similar. When interessare is used intransitively, the construction is similar to that of piacere (see 18.4.4): the grammatical subject of interessare is the object of interest (il tuo lavoro), while the person interested becomes the indirect object (ti).

Ti interessa il tuo lavoro?
Does your work interest you?

Interessarsi di / a (verb used reflexively)

When used reflexively, meaning ‘to be interested in’, interessarsi is followed by di or a:

Il professore si è interessato molto della ricerca degli studenti.
The professor took a great interest in the students' research.

Ci siamo interessati alle storie dei bambini.
We were interested in the children's stories.

The same expressions can be used with non to express a lack of enthusiasm or interest:

Interessato (adjective)

Alfredo non si è mai interessato dei figli.
Alfredo never showed any interest in the children.

Interessante (adjective)

Sono interessanti i lavori di quest'artista, ma non mi piacciono.
The works of this artist are interesting, but I don't like them.

Entusiasmarsi di (verb used reflexively)

Entusiasmarsi is normally followed by di:

Dopo un mese mi sono veramente entusiasmata del mio lavoro.
After a month I got really enthusiastic about my work.

Entusiasta (adjective)

Entusiasta, which takes the same form whether masculine or feminine, is normally followed by di:

Mio padre ha novanta anni ma è sempre entusiasta della musica.
My father is ninety but he is still enthusiastic about music.

I turisti sono sempre entusiasti di Venezia.
Tourists are always enthusiastic about Venice.

Appassionarsi (verb used reflexively)

Due anni fa mi sono appassionata della cultura giapponese e ho deciso di trasferirmi a Tokyo.
Two years ago I developed a passion for Japanese culture and I decided to move to Tokyo.

Appassionato (adjective)

Gianni e Luisa sono appassionati di mobili antichi.
Gianni and Luisa are passionate about antique furniture.

Motivato (adjective)

Bisogna essere motivati per fare il dottorato di ricerche.
You have to be motivated to do a Ph.D.

25.4 Expressing negative emotions

25.4.1 Regret, sorrow, unhappiness

Purtroppo expresses regret at a fact:

Purtroppo il treno è in ritardo.
Unfortunately the train is late.

The verb dispiacere (see 28.3.1) can be used with an indirect object noun or pronoun, indicating the person who is expressing regret. It is normally followed by che and the subjunctive:

Ci dispiace che tu non abbia avuto il posto.
We're sorry that you didn't get the job.

Mi dispiace che tu la pensi così.
I'm sorry you feel like that.

You can also use the expression (è un) peccato che, again followed by the indicative in informal spoken Italian but the subjunctive in formal language:

Peccato che voi dovete studiare. (indicative)
Pity (shame) you have to study!

È un peccato che i suoi genitori abitino così lontano. (subjunctive)
It's a pity (shame) that her parents live so far away.

25.4.2 Desperation

Examples of expressions of despair or desperation are shown below:

Sono disperata, è partito il mio fidanzato per un viaggio di sei mesi.
I'm in despair, my fiancé has left for a six-month-long journey.

Non so più come fare. Non ce la faccio più.
I don't know what to do any more. I can't go on.

25.4.3 Disappointment

Simple expressions of disappointment include:

You can use the verb deludere to talk about your disappointment:

Sono veramante delusa del tuo comportamento
I'm really disappointed with your behaviour.

Mi hai proprio deluso.
You've really disappointed me.

The verb dispiacere, seen above, can also be used to express disappointment, followed by che and the subjunctive:

Sono proprio dispiacuto che i nostri amici non siano (sono) venuti.
I'm really upset that our friends didn't come.

Dispiacere can also be used as a noun:

Che dispiacere mi ha fatto vederlo così mal ridotto!
I found it so hard to see him in such bad shape!

25.4.4 Dissatisfaction

Examples of expressions of dissatisfaction are shown below:

Così non va bene.
That won't do.

Il tuo supervisore non è molto soddisfatto del tuo lavoro.
Your supervisor isn't very satisfied with your work.

A volte i clienti rimangono insoddisfatti della qualità del prodotto.
Sometimes customers are dissatisfied with the quality of the product.

25.4.5 Disapproval, disagreement

Examples of expressions of disapproval or disagreement are shown below:

Sono contrario all'idea di andare al mare solo per la giornata.
I'm against the idea of going to the seaside just for the day.

Mia madre non approva le mie scelte.
My mother doesn't approve of my choices.

Hai fatto male a scegliere Giurisprudenza.
You made a mistake choosing law.

▶ See also 27.2.2.

25.4.6 Irritation, annoyance, displeasure

Irritation, annoyance or displeasure can be expressed in many different ways, ranging from mild to extreme, as in the examples below:

Non mi piace il tuo comportamento.
I don't like your behaviour.

Non mi va!
I don't like it!

Basta!
That's enough!

Il mio fidanzato era proprio seccato con me.
My boyfriend was really fed-up with me.

Se mia madre venisse a sapere, sarebbe furiosa.
If my mother were to find out, she would be furious.

I professori sono furibondi con gli studenti che non hanno partecipato al seminario.
The lecturers are furious with the students who didn't take part in the seminar.

Quando ha saputo della macchina, è andato su tutte le furie.
When he found out about the car, he went wild.

25.4.7 Boredom

Boredom is expressed by an adjective such as noioso or a noun such as noia:

È un libro veramente noioso.
It's a really boring book.

È noioso imparare i verbi irregolari.
It's boring learning irregular verbs.

Che noia!
What a bore!

Other more colloquial expressions include:

Che barba!
What a bore!

Che palle! (vulgar)

What a bore!

25.4.8 Anger

Anger can be conveyed with stronger language, such as the interjections below. These kinds of words do not always have an exact translation in English and should be used with care:

Mannaggia! Accidenti! Porca miseria!

There is an infinite variety of curses and swear words used by Italians of different age groups, regions and dialects. We leave it to the reader to investigate further.

Less harsh but more explicit ways of expressing anger include:

Che rabbia!
That's really infuriating!

Che nervi!
It gets on my nerves!

Mi fa una rabbia pensare che ha vinto lui invece di me.
It makes me angry to think that he won instead of me.

Le fanno venire i nervi tutti questi spostamenti.
All these moves get on her nerves.

25.4.9 Antipathy, hostility

A variety of idiomatic expressions can be used to indicate the speaker's antipathy towards somebody. Mild dislike can be expressed as follows:

Non mi piacevano gli amici di mia madre.
I didn't like my mother's friends.

Non ci va il nuovo preside.
We don't like the new headmaster.

Alfredo le è sempre stato antipatico.
She's always disliked Alfredo.

Non lo trovi un po' antipatico?
Don't you find him rather unlikeable?

Se viene Caterina, io non vengo. Non la sopporto.
If Caterina is coming, I'm not coming. I can't stand her.

▶ See also 28.3.

You can express your hostility with a range of appropriate curses:

Al diavolo!
To hell!

Va al diavolo!
Go to hell!

Che gli venga un accidente!
Damn him!

You can use adjectives such as antipatico, aggressivo, ostile:

Sei proprio antipatico. Vattene.
You're really horrible. Go away.

Leonardo è una persona molto aggressiva.
Leonardo is a really aggressive person.

A volte gli inglesi possono sembrare addirittura ostili.
Sometimes the English can seem downright hostile.

You may want to employ a certain degree of courtesy and formality:

Per favore, mi lasci in pace. Si accomodi fuori!
Please, leave me alone. Leave the room now.

25.4.10 Disgust

Disgust is usually conveyed by the following expressions, rather informal and vulgar, but very common:

Che schifo!
Disgusting!

Mi fa schifo!
I'm disgusted! It makes me sick.

Mi fa schifo dover lavorare con gente del genere!
It makes me sick having to work with this sort of people!

Questi episodi di razzismo fanno schifo.
These episodes of racism are sickening.

25.5 Expressing other emotions

In this section we look at ways of expressing emotions which are neither positive nor negative. Some expressions are neutral, some can be used in either a positive or a negative context and some express a mixture of emotions.

25.5.1 Indifference

Ways of expressing indifference to a person, object or proposal include the following:

Look at these examples:

A me non interessa se vieni o no. Fai come vuoi.

I don't care if you come or not. Do what you want.

Se per te è uguale, rimaniamo fino al 15 dicembre.

If it's all the same for you, we'll stay until the 15th of December.

Scegli quello che vuoi, tanto per me è lo stesso.

Choose what you want, it's all the same for me anyway.

Fa lo stesso se viaggiamo in treno o in macchina?
Does it matter whether we travel by train or by car?

Che lui venga o no per me fa lo stesso.

Whether he comes or not, it's the same for me.

Non importa se finisci l'esercizio o no.

It doesn't matter if you finish the exercise or not.

Non mi importa niente della tua vita personale.

I don't care about your personal life.

I voti che danno i professori non importano a nessuno.

The marks the teachers give don't matter to anyone.

Scusa, che t'importa di quello che dice lui?
Excuse me, what do you care about what he says?

Mangiamo dove vuoi tu, per me è indifferente.

Let's eat where you want, for me it's the same.

Quello che pensano loro non mi interessa.

I don't care what they think.

Non me ne importa niente.

I don't care a bit about it.

Non ha importanza.

It doesn't matter.

Non fa nessuna differenza.

It doesn't make any difference.

The lack of positive qualities such as interest and enthusiasm (see 25.3.6) can also convey indifference:

Gli manca proprio l'entusiasmo.

He's really lacking enthusiasm.

Non ha interesse (nel suo lavoro).

He has no interest (in his work).

Gli studenti sono poco motivati.

The students are not very motivated.

Or, more forcefully:

Non gliene frega niente.
He couldn't give a damn.

Chi se ne frega?
Who cares?

In the expression non me ne importa niente, niente can be replaced by un corno / un fico (secco), both very colloquial expressions:

Non me ne importa un fico (secco).
(Literally) I don't care a (dried) fig.

25.5.2 Resignation

When you are resigned to a situation, or feel you can do little about it:

Pazienza!
Never mind! (Literally: Patience!)

Mi dispiace, sono finite le lasagne.

Sorry, the lasagne is finished.

Fa lo stesso. Prendo i tortellini.

It doesn't matter. I'll have the tortellini.

Non c'è niente da fare.

There's nothing to be done.

Cosa vuoi! Hanno sedici anni.

What do you expect? They're sixteen years old.

25.5.3 Puzzlement, perplexity

Cosa faccio?
What shall I do now?

Non so (più) cosa fare.
I don't know what to do (now).

25.5.4 Pity

Pity for others is conveyed by expressions such as fare pena or far pietà:

Questi bambini mi fanno pena.
I feel sorry for these children.

Faceva pena vedere i mendicanti per la strada.
It was pitiful to see the beggars on the street.

I profughi fanno pietà a tutti.
Everyone feels sorry for refugees.

The exclamation Poveretto! also expresses pity, as does the adjective povero used with a noun, proper name or stressed object pronoun (see 3.3.2):

La professoressa ha lavorato anche durante l'intervallo. Poveretta!
The teacher worked during the interval as well. Poor thing!

Povero Mario, gli va tutto storto.
Poor Mario, everything goes wrong for him.

Povero me! Devo preparare due conferenze in una settimana.
Poor me! I have to prepare two talks in a week.

25.5.5 Trust

Verbs and verb phrases conveying trust and confidence — or lack of it — in someone or something include: fidarsi (di), avere fiducia (in):

Mi posso fidare di lui?
Can I trust him?

Non hai fiducia in me.
You don't have any confidence in me.

In Italia, non c'è fiducia nelle banche.
In Italy, there is no trust / confidence in the banks.

25.5.6 Surprise, shock, amazement

The following expressions can express either positive or negative emotions according to the context:

Che sorpresa!
What a surprise!

Che bella sorpresa!
What a nice surprise!

Che brutta sorpresa!
What a horrible surprise!

Davvero?
Really?

Veramente?
Really?

Mamma mia!
(untranslatable)

Non ci credo!
I don't believe it!

Roba da pazzi!
You must be joking! (approximate meaning)

Some verbs or verb phrases can also be used:

Il film mi ha fatto impressione.
The film shocked me.

25.5.7 Expectation

The expression non vedere l'ora means that you are looking forward to something:

Non vedo l'ora di finire questo libro!
I can't wait to finish this book!

I bambini non vedono l'ora di andare in vacanza.
The children can't wait to go on holiday.

▶ See also 25.2 for an interjection expressing impatience in a less positive way.