Today we will look at one of the most commonly used indefinite pronouns in Italian: something (something / anything).from Some (Some) and What (thing), used to express one or more unspecified or unknown things.
something
something/anything
something usually translated as something In English, both occur in affirmative statements.In questions, the translation can be something or anything.In negative statements we have to use there is nothing (there is nothing) instead.
- arrive something Brought to you. = I have something for you.
- I don’t there is nothing Brought to you. = I have nothing/nothing to give you.
- two something Give me? = Do you have anything for me?
- I told him something. = I said something to him.
- I didn’t tell him there is nothing. = I said nothing/said nothing to him.
- you tell him something? = Did you say anything/anything to him?
Do you want to do something? – No, I don’t want to do anything.
Do you want to do something? – No, I don’t want to do anything.
something It can also be followed by a preposition of and a masculine adjective (e.g. something interesting/good/weird = something interesting/good/weird).
There are good things in the refrigerator!
There are good things in the refrigerator!
mini something Literally means “a little something”, but it is often translated as “a little bit” or “some stuff”.
Do you want to tell me something about yourself?
Do you want to tell me something about yourself?
when something followed by adjectives other (other), it is omitted as something With apostrophe – Something else. This expression means “Something else”.Or you might hear Something else.
No chocolate cake. Why not choose something else?
No chocolate cake. Why not choose something else?
It’s just like or It’s just likeon the other hand, both mean It’s just likean informal way of saying it in both languages”About” or”About”.
He paid about 350 euros for the ticket!
He paid about 350 euros for the ticket!
Here are some set expressions containing something You hear this every day in Italy.
is already something
this is something/at least
Something tells me…
Something tells me…
i know something
I know this problem
Something doesn’t feel right to me
Something doesn’t add up
it tells me something
it sounded the alarm
something similar
something similar
something It can also be used as a noun, meaning “an undefinable characteristic” or “something”.it always appears in the company of the indefinite article and (A).
There’s something about him that makes you feel very safe.
There was something about him that made you feel very safe.
Heather Broster is a graduate with honors in linguistics from the University of Western Ontario. She is an aspiring polyglot, fluent in English and Italian, as well as varying degrees of fluency in Japanese, Welsh and French. Originally from Toronto, Heather has lived in several countries, notably Italy for six years. Her main research areas are language acquisition, education and bilingual teaching.
