The word si is a really important one in Italian because it comes up loads.It has one simple, very important meaning that you might have even come across already. But did you know that si actually has three different meanings?
We’ll look at all three because learning them will make it easier to join in and understand Italian conversations.
Sì in Italian: How to Say Yes
One of the very first words you might have learnt in Italian might have been:
| Sì | Yes | See |
For example:
Sì, certo -Yes, of course
Sì, grazie -Yes, thank you
Notice how the letter “i” in sì has an accent punctuation mark? That’s the visual cue to tell us it means “yes” instead of its other meanings.
Impersonal Si in Italian: talking about people in general
Si (without the accent) can also be used in sentences which are impersonal, when you want to talk about people in general.
You might have already come across this use of si in the sentence:
Come si dice X in italiano? -How does one say X in Italian?
We might translate that with a “you” in English, but I don’t really mean you, the person I'm talking to. It’s more generic – what I’m really asking is “how do people say this” or “how does one say this”.
Although using “one” can sound very formal in English, in Italian, it’s very natural.
Here are some really useful expressions using si that will help you get around Italy:
| Dove si compra il biglietto? | Where does one buy the ticket? | DOH-veh see KOHM-prah eel bee-LYET-toh? |
| Dove si trova la stazione? | Where does one find the station? | DOH-veh see TROH-vah lah stah-TZEE-oh-neh? |
| Si può pagare con la carta? | Can one pay by card? | See PWOH pah-GAH-ray kon lah KAR-tah? |
| Si può fare una foto? | Can one take a picture? | See PWOH fah-REH oo-nah FOH-toh? |
| Si paga alla cassa?* | Does one pay at the cash register?* | See PAH-gah AH-lah KASS-ah? |
| Si mangia bene in questo ristorante | One eats well in this restaurant | See MAHN-jah BEH-neh in KWEH-stoh ree-stoh-RAHN-teh |
| Si spende poco in questo ristorante | One spends little in this restaurant | See SPEHN-deh POH-koh in KWEH-stoh ree-stoh-RAHN-teh. |
| A che ora si cena? | What time does one have dinner? | Ah KEH oh-rah see CHEH-nah? |
| Si deve prenotare in anticipo? | Does one have to book in advance? | See DEH-veh preh-noh-TAH-reh in ahn-tee-CHEE-poh? |
*In Italian restaurants, sometimes you can’t pay at the table and have to pay at the cash register.
Just a little rule to help you with these phrases: as you can see from all these examples, we put the word si in front of the verb.
Si in Italian: Herself, Himself, Oneself Explained
In front of a verb, si in Italian can also mean:
| Si | Herself, Himself, Itself, | See |
For example:
Brody si diverte in montagna -Brody enjoys herself in the mountains
Matteo si prepara un caffè -Matteo is making himself a coffee
Katie si presenta agli studenti -Katie introduces herself to the students
What can be a bit tricky about this use of si is that sometimes in Italian it’s used where it isn’t in English.
For example:
Katie si sveglia presto -Katie wakes up early (lit. Katie wakes herself up early)
Don’t worry too much about how this last point works for now, just know that if you hear si used this way and it doesn’t make sense literally translated, that’s normal.
When you’re ready, you can read our blogpost on reflexive verbs which explains it all in detail.
The 3 Meanings of Si In Italian: Review
Now you've seen plenty of common Italian expressions. Let’s recap some of the ways you might hear si used in real Italian conversations.
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Sì Meaning Yes
Sì, grazie -Yes thanks
Sì, certo -Yes, of course
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The Impersonal Si: Italian for One
Come si dice X in italiano? -How does one say X in Italian?
Si può pagare con la carta? -Can one pay by card?
Dove si compra il biglietto? -Where does one buy the ticket?
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Si meaning herself, itself, himself
Brody si diverte in montagna -Brody enjoys herself in the mountains
Matteo si prepara un caffè -Matteo is making himself a coffee
K: Ciao a tutti e benvenuti! Hi everyone and welcome to “Learn Italian with Joy of Languages”.
M: We’re talking about si , which is a little but very useful word. Today, you’ll see how it can be used in three different ways in Italian.
K: But before we get started, can we ask you a quick favore? If you’re listening to this on your podcast app, could you hit the subscribe or follow button? This way you’ll get notified when we release a new episode and you’ll help our podcast grow so we can keep making free lessons like this. Grazie!
M: In this conversation, you’ll hear Katie and I chatting about our weekend plans. See if you can notice the phrases that use the word si.
M: Cosa si fa questo weekend?
K: Andiamo in montagna?
M: Sì! In Val Taleggio? Come si chiama il ristorante?
K: San Marco
M: Giusto. Lì si mangia bene e si spende poco
K: Prima facciamo una passeggiata? Così Brody si diverte e si rilassa
K: Matteo asked:
M: Cosa si fa questo weekend? - What shall we do this weekend? Literally:
Cosa - What
Si - one
Fa - does
Questo - this
Weekend - weekend
K: Cosa si fa is used a lot in Italian. And in this expression, the literal translation of si is like saying “one”. What does one do? Cosa si fa?
Although this sounds really formal in English, a bit like the king or an olde worlde way of speaking, this way of using si is very natural and not formal at all in Italian.
M: Just in case you were wondering, it’s perfectly correct to say cosa facciamo (x2) , literally “what we do”. But using si makes things feel a bit more general.
K: In Italian, this is often called the “si impersonale” , the “impersonal” si. Because we’re not specifying who. We’re keeping things general, just like saying “one” in English.
M: There’s one other very common phrase with si used in this way that you might have heard.
Come si dice - how do you say? Like come si dice questo in italiano? Literally:
Come - How
Si - one
Dice - says
Questo - this
In - in
Italiano - Italian
K: Here, we’re not referring to how a specific person says it, but rather how one says it, how people say it in general. We’ll look at more examples of si being used like this a bit later.
Then I asked Matteo:
M: Andiamo in montagna? - Shall we go to the mountains? Literally:
Andiamo - we go
In - in
Montagna - mountain
K: We really enjoy going to the mountains, so Matteo said:
M: Sì! In Val Taleggio? Literally:
Sì! - Yes
In - in
Val Taleggio - Val Taleggio (this is a mountainous area in Italy to the East of Lake Como)
K: Here you heard sì being used to mean “yes”.
M: There's a visual clue to help you know when sì means “yes”, instead of its other meanings. If there’s one of those little accent punctuation marks over the “i”, then it’s telling you that sì means “yes”.
K: Of course, you can’t see it if people are speaking, but it’s one of those meanings that’s nearly always obvious from the context. Then Matteo asked:
M: Come si chiama il ristorante? - What’s the restaurant called? Literally:
Come - how
Si - itself
Chiama - calls
Il - the
Ristorante - restaurant
K: Here, Matteo’s using the third meaning of si . When si is used like this, it can be translated in English with words like herself, himself or oneself. Let’s call it the “self” si.
A funny example of this is the phase “it’s called”. Italians say si chiama, which is literally:
M:
Si – Oneself, or itself Chiama – calls
Si chiama K: It’s like saying “the restaurant calls itself…” This sounds very weird to native English speaking ears! Sometimes the “self si” is easily translated. For example, a phrase you will hear later is, si diverte, she enjoys herself, literally:
M:
Si – herself ( si is the same for any third person: “herself”, “himself” or “oneself”, “itself” – we usually know who from the context)
Diverte – enjoys
Si diverte
K: Just like in English, but Italians speak a little like yoda and put the “self si” at the beginning: si (herself), diverte (enjoys). So far, so good. But the tricky thing about this “self si” is that it often appears where it wouldn’t in English. Just like in “si chiama”, literally “itself, calls”, or as we would say it “it’s called”.
M: This is a complicated topic, so don’t worry if it’s hard to understand at first. You can gradually start to absorb this si by hearing Italians use it.
K: And if you do want to learn more about this funny structure in Italian, they’re called “reflexive verbs”, we have a lesson on this over on our blog you’ll find the link in the description.
K: So, after Matteo asked the name of the restaurant, I replied :
M: San Marco - San Marco. Literally: San - Saint
Marco - Mark
K: It’s a restaurant we like a lot for the reasons that Matteo mentioned:
M: Giusto. Lì si mangia bene e si spende poco - Right. There you eat well and you spend little. Literally:
Giusto - Right
Lì - There
Si - One
Mangia - Eats
Bene - well
E - and
Si - one
Spende - spends
Poco - little
K: Here, we’re using si in an impersonal way again. Instead of saying “you eat well there”, which feels like it’s singling out the person you’re talking to, as if they’re the only one who would eat well there, we’re speaking more generally to say “one eats well there” or “people eat well there.” It’s less about a specific person and more about the experience anyone would have.
Then I added
M: Prima facciamo una passeggiata? - First shall we go for a walk? Literally:
Prima - first
Facciamo - we do
Una - a
Passeggiata - walk
K: And then I continued:
M: Così Brody si diverte e si rilassa - That way Brody can enjoy herself and relax
Così - that way
Brody
Si - herself
Diverte - enjoys
E - and
Si - herself
Rilassa - relaxes
K: Here, si means “herself”. It’s the “self si ” again.
M: Just like in English, you wouldn’t just say “Brody enjoys” without anything after it. In Italian, we can’t say “Brody diverte”. We have to include the word si and say Brody si diverte . As you know, in Italian, we speak like yoda and say “Brody herself enjoys”: Brody – si – diverte.
K: Then I also said that Brody would relax, or si rilassa in Italian. For this particular word, we wouldn’t have the “herself” in English, but we do need it in Italian. So literally “Brody herself relaxes”:
M: Brody – si – rilassa.
K: Remember, it’s normal to find this a bit confusing when the English and Italian say things in different ways. You can start by learning them little by little in common phrases like these.
M: Let’s see what you can remember about the different ways we use si in Italian with a quick quiz.
K: If I wanted to use si in an impersonal way, a bit like using “one” in English, how would I say “one eats well”?
[...]
M: Si mangia bene (x2)
K: And what about “one spends little?
[...]
M: Si spende poco (x2)
We also saw si used an impersonal way in the expression:
Cosa si fa - what does one do, what one does:
Cosa si fa ( x2 ).
K: And what about if I wanted to use “si” to mean his, her or oneself? For example, how would I say Brody enjoys herself? Or, in the order Italians use, Brody herself enjoys:
M: Brody si diverte (x2)
K: We also saw this use of si in phrases like si chiama - it’s called, or literally it calls itself. Also in si rilassa - she relaxes, literally she relaxes herself. Finally, let’s finish with an easy one. How do I say “yes” in Italian?
M: Sì!
K: Just remember that if it means “yes”, there’s a little accent on top of the “i”.
M: Let’s listen to the whole conversation again:
M: Cosa si fa questo weekend?
K: Andiamo in montagna?
M: Sì! In Val Taleggio? Come si chiama il ristorante?
K: San Marco
M: Giusto. Lì si mangia bene e si spende poco
K: Prima facciamo una passeggiata? Così Brody si diverte e si rilassa
K: In Italy, when you’re asking for information, like where’s the train station, or where can you buy a ticket, we often use the impersonal si .
M: That´s because you’re not really asking the person you’re speaking to where they can buy a ticket, but actually where “one”, in general, can buy a ticket. By being less direct, it can also help to come across as more polite.
K: To see a list of phrases that you can use to ask useful questions in Italy, like the ones we mentioned above, head over to our website by clicking on the link in the description. Or you can go to italian.joyoflanguages.com/podcast and search for episode 181.
M: You can focus on using the phrases first so you can get talking straight away. Then, when you're ready, you can go back and read through the explanations in more detail.
M: See you next time.
K: Or as we say in Italian.
Alla prossima!
Time to check your understanding and remember everything you just learned! Below you’ll find a mini-quiz and some vocabulary cards to help it all go in.
Quiz: Si in Italian
How much did you learn? Find out in the quiz!
Click here to take the quiz for this episode: Si in Italian
Vocabulary
Come si dice X in italiano? = How does one say X in Italian?
Si può pagare con la carta? = Can one pay by card?
Dove si compra il biglietto? = Where does one buy the ticket?
Brody si diverte in montagna = Brody enjoys herself in the mountains
Matteo si prepara un caffè = Matteo is making himself a coffee
Si deve prenotare in anticipo? = Does one have to book in advance?
Sì, grazie! = Yes, thank you!
Cosa si fa questo weekend? = What does one do this weekend?
Come si chiama il ristorante? = What is the restaurant called?
Lì si mangia bene e si spende poco = There one eats well and one spends little
Così Brody si diverte e si rilassa = That way Brody can enjoy herself and relax
Flashcards: Si in Italian
Not sure how it works? Click here to watch the tutorial
