An idiom is an expression that can not be translated literally from English to Italian or vice versa. For example the expression “faccio il biglietto” litteraly translated from Italian to English would read: “I do the ticket”. However, what the person is really trying to say is: I am buying a ticket. I Do the ticket makes no sense in English!
Below are some common idioms with the verb “fare” which means to do or make.
fare i compiti to do one’s homework
fare il biglietto to purchase a ticket
fare la fila/la coda stand on line/wait on line
fare la spesa to go grocery shopping
fare le spese to go shopping
fare forca to play hooky
fare vedere to show someone something
fare una domanda to ask a question
fare man bassa to ransack
fare una fotografia to take a picture
fare una passeggiata to take a walk
fare colazione to have breakfast
fare un viaggio to take a trip
fare un capello in quattro to split hairs
farsi la barba to shave
farsi coraggio to take heart
fare castelli in aria to daydream
fare fingere to pretend, make believe
fare male to be painful, to ache
farsi in la to step to one side
fare di tutto to do everything possible
fare del proprio meglio to do one’s best
farsi degli amici to make friends
fare alla romana to split the check
fare il pieno to fill up the gas tank
fare passare to let through
Now, once you know these expressions, all you have to do is conjugate the verb “fare” and then write the rest of the expression and now you have an idiom!
Here is the conjugation of “fare”
Faccio = I make
Fai = You (singular) make
Fa = He/She makes
Facciamo = We make
Fate = You (plural) make
Fanno = They make
So let’s say I wanted to express the following in Italian: “we wait in line”
I find my expression “to wait in line” which is “fare la fila.” Now I go to the “we” form of fare which is “facciamo.” Then I add the rest of the phrase which is “la fila”. You put it together and get” Facciamo la fila = We wait in line.
Now you try:
I do my homework =
We pretend =
They take a trip =
You (singular) have breakfast =
He goes shopping =
Article by Giacomo DePasquale
Soluzioni: (Io) faccio i compiti;(noi) facciamo finta;(loro) fanno un viaggio;(lui) va a fare shopping
