Photo by Dex Ezekiel on Unsplash
By Federica Lupis, https://www.federicalupis.com/
Author of "Fluent On The First Try" and "Why You're Not Fluent and How To Fix It"
Language trainer, interpreter and translator.
After writing two books on how to learn a foreign language and two years of blog posts on the same topic, I have decided to start a blog on the most difficult aspects of learning Italian.
From today on, I will give you some hot tips on how you can refine your knowledge of this beautiful Romance language.
Enjoy!
What is the difference between ‘pensare di’ and ‘pensare a’?
Prepositions are one of the most difficult aspects of learning Italian. My students often ask me what preposition (e.g., ‘a’ vs ‘di’) should follow a given verb (a word describing an action, state, or circumstance like ‘to eat’, ‘to be’ and ‘to happen’).
Today you will learn how to use the verb ‘pensare’ (to think).
‘Pensare a’ means ‘to think of/about someone/something’.
For example:
· Quando vedo le onde del mare, penso a mia madre. Nuotare le piace tantissimo.
When I see the sea waves, I think of my mother. She loves swimming.
· I giovani d’oggi pensano spesso al futuro. Molti di loro sono preoccupati per l’ambiente e per l’instabilità geopolitica.
Young people today often think about the future. Many of them are concerned about the environment and geopolitical instability.
Note:
You will have to choose between simple (‘a’) and articulated prepositions (al, alla, agli etc…).
As a general rule, simple prepositions are used with:
· proper names (e.g., Penso a Mark – I think about Mark)
· singular nouns indicating family relations, preceded by a possessive adjective (e.g., Penso a mio zio – I think about my uncle).
· cities, e.g., Penso a Roma – I’m thinking about Rome.
In all other cases, you will likely need to use an articulated preposition. (I say ‘likely’ because as you know in Italian there are as many grammar rules as there are exceptions).
Pensare di + verb means ‘to think about doing something’.
· Pensano di raggiungerci domani. Oggi hanno troppe faccende da sbrigare a casa.
They plan to join us tomorrow. Today they have too many chores to do at home.
· Pensi di iscriverti al corso di informatica? Io ho deciso di iscrivermi. Sono una frana e litigo continuamente con il mio computer.
Do you think you will enrol in the IT course? I have decided to sign up. I am terrible at it, and I constantly fight with my computer.
What about pensare + a + verb?
Pensare + a + verb may be a not so kind invitation to worry about what you have to do and let the other person do the rest.
Imagine you’re travelling in Italy with a friend. Your friend is driving a car while you are giving them directions. After the 5th time your friend tells you that you are going the wrong way, you may turn around and say: “Pensa a guidare, che al resto ci penso io” – You worry about driving, I take care of the rest.
(I advise you not to use this phrase if your friend speaks Italian and you are travelling on a lost road in the middle of nowhere… You could end up hitchhiking!)
Depending on the context and the tone of the voice, ‘pensare + a + verb’ may be ironic or a way to joke with someone.
For example, when I lived with my sister, we always joked about who was going to clean the bathroom.
When it was my turn, I used to say:
· Non hai bisogno di una mano in cucina?
Don’t you need a hand in the kitchen?
And my sister replied:
· Tu pensa a pulire il bagno che alla cucina ci penso io!
You think about cleaning the bathroom, I'll take care of the kitchen!
And this was clearly a way of teasing each other.
To sum up:
‘Pensare a’ means ‘to think of/about someone/something’
'Pensare di + verb' means 'to think about doing something'
'Pensare + a + verb' can be a not so kind invitation to worry about what you have to do and let the other person do the rest or a way of joking.
Thanks for reading.
I’ll catch you all next month!
If you enjoyed my article, you can discover my tried and tested language learning strategies in my books:
and here are this month's book offers:
Kyara e l'Anello degli Antenati by Saveria Parisi - ITALIAN version
Kyara e i Guerrieri di Pietra by Saveria Parisi – ITALIAN version
This newsletter was brought to you by Saveria Parisi, author of the Italian fantasy series:
‘Kyara e l'Anello degli Antenati’ and ‘Kyara e i Guerrieri di Pietra’.
Go to the Italian version.
To read my previous article, click below: