Expressing Emotions in Italian

Even if you have been living in Italy for a short time, you will have noticed that the Italian language is complex. It encompasses verbal, facial and gestural communication. Communicating feelings and emotions seems to come easy to Italians, but for those of us who come from more reserved cultures, we sometimes need to learn it.

Here I will share some of my tips and insights on learning how to communicate feelings and emotions for expats living in Italy.

Hatred, anger and unreason whips the soul into a frenzy and translates into the diabolical word forsennato.  Simply pronouncing it [for-sen-NA-to] creates a sense of impatience and annoyance.

Derived and composed of fuori (out of) and senno (bosom). Much like the English words: furious, crazy, out of his mind, a maniac.

“Chi è che urla come un forsennato?”    (Who’s that screaming like a maniac?)

E’ un forsennato con cui non è possibile discutere! (He’s a crazy person you can’t reason with!)

Humans feel and express a range of emotions but we rarely feel emotions one at a time. That’s why forsennato is a perfect word, it doesn’t describe a singular emotion but impeccably describes a whirlwind of emotions and behavior.

Even if you have been living in Italy for a short time, you will have noticed that Italians are expressive both verbally and non-verbally. Not only through hand gestures but facial expressions as well. Learning Italian doesn’t just mean being grammatically correct with proper pronunciation. Using emotion and gestures is an important part of the way Italians communicate too.  

Cultural differences may hold us back from using emotion to express ourselves and we may even feel silly. My Russian friend once told me,“Why does everyone smile? If you smile all the time in Russia, they think you are the town fool!”

Italians also tend to say what they think and do not hold back when they disagree on something. I come from an Irish-Catholic household where the moto was “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all.”

Discovering the directness of the Italians was a little shocking yet intriguing. Even after living here many years, I still don’t have the courage to say “Stai bene? Sembri stanca, non hai dormito abbastanza?” (Are you ok? You look tired, didn’t you get enough sleep?)  

I wish I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard that!

Verb: LIKE

When we learn a new verb in Italian we usually learn the conjugations for verbs ending in –ere, –are or -ire . There is usually a set pattern and once you learn the pattern you can start conjugating, except when it’s irregular.

Although the verb LIKE follows the normal conjugation rules of ‘ere’ verbs, it is intransitive and has a different subject+verb pattern.

You have to think of the sentence in backward sort of way; “to me like pizza, to you like pizza, to him like pizza” etc.

One of the most simple ways to express emotion or approval is to say if you like or don’t like something. The Italian verb piacere (to like) is one of the most confusing verbs to learn. It’s irregular and so hard to learn!

I like pizza. You like pizza. He likes pizza. We like pizza. You like  pizza. They like pizza.

Mi piace la pizza. Ti piace la pizza. Gli piace la pizza. Ci piace la pizza. Ti piace la pizza. A loro piace la pizza.

If you want to say “I like you” the conjugations are so confusing ! In a way, you have to think that the verb conjugates with the object not the subject.

I like you. You like me. She likes him. We like them. They like us.

Mi piaci. Ti piaccio. A lei piace lui. Ci piacciono. A loro piace.

Verb: LOVE

In English, we use the same expression “I love you” for romantic love, friendship and to express our love affair with chocolate. In Italian, there are different ways to express those things.

Amare (to love) is what you find in the dictionary for love, but in Italian you would say “Ti amo” (I love you) to your lover but you would say “Ti voglio bene” (I care about you) to your mother or your best friend. To express your love for your favorite dessert, you’d say “Adoro il tiramisu!” (I adore tiramisu).

Vocabulary: EMOTIONS

Learning the words for actual emotions is the easier way. In English you can simply use the verb to be + adjective;  Io sono/ Lui è (I am/He is) + aggettivo.

In Italian in some cases you need to use the verb avere (to have).

Sono triste (I’m sad), Sono arrabbiata (I’m angry), Sono felice (I’m happy), Ho paura (I’m afraid), Ho vergona (I’m ashamed).
Keep in mind you need to change the final vowel a/o for feminine/masculine.

If you already speak a Romance language, Italian will be easy for you. For English speakers, some words are simple to understand like frustrata (frustrated) or romantico (romantic) whereas other Italian words are sometimes hard to recognize but can be learned.

Here is a list of feelings and emotional adjectives that might help you express your feelings in Italian.

Afraid	(avere) Paura
Amused	Divertito
Angry	Arrabbiato
Anxious	Ansioso
Ashamed	(avere) Vergogna
Awkward /uncomfortable	Non sono al mio aggio/ scomodo
Bored	Annoiato
Calm	Tranquillo
Compassionate	Compassionevole
Confused	Confuso
Desperate	Disperato
Determined	Determinato
Devoted	Devoto
Disgusted	Disgustato
Distrustful	Diffidente
Entranced	Estasiato
Envious	Invidioso
Excited	Eccitato
Frustrated	Frustrato
Happy	Felice
Helpless	Indifeso
Horrified	Inorridito
Indignant	Indignato
Interested	Interessato
Joyful	Gioioso
Nostalgic /Homesick	Nostalgico / Ho nostalgia di casa
Proud	Orgoglioso
Romantic	Romantico
Sad	Triste
Satisfied	Soddisfatto
Shocked	Scioccato
Sympathetic	Comprensivo
Triumphant	Trionfante

Sometimes you need gestures to convey what you want to say, and many times it will come naturally, but we will leave that for another day!

More resources for learning Italian

Italian Verb Conjugator

Let’s Speak Italian: An overview on Basic Italian Language

Hope this list was helpful. If you found it useful, please share on social media and give us a Mi Piace!

Article by Celia Abernethy, Easy Milano Editor
Featured photo by Andrea Piacquadio / Pexels

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