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matteo tironi.
User deleted
Hellot there and welcome back to Easy Peasy Italian 
ok guys, since we covered fare's grammar in the last article, I'll go straight to the daunting idiom list then.
there is not much to say, apart from that you have to learn them by heart, no easy way out
some of them are very common and some not so much.
to facilitate you, I've divided them in three tiers, of increasing difficulty.
tier one ( commonly and very commonly used ones)
Fare a meno= to go/ to do without something.
Farò a meno dell'acqua.
I'll go without water.
Fare schifo (veeeery common among youngster)= to suck (not literally)
questo film fa schifo.
This movie sucks.
Non fare un cazzo (slang) = to fuck around.
Non fa mai un cazzo
he always fucks around.
Fare pena= to inspire pity (not to pity!)/ to be really bad at something.
guarda quel cane, fa proprio pena.
Look at that dog, I do really pity it. ( rephrased it to use to pity)
Fare invidia= to cause envy, to be enviable.
Mi fa invidia come lui vinca sempre.
It's inviable how he always manage to win.
Fare bene= to be good for someone's health.
Mangia le carote, fanno bene!
Eat the carrots, they are good for your health!
Fare male= to hurt
la gamba mi fa male
my leg hurts.
fare una foto= to take a picture
fagli una foto!
Take a picture of him!
Fare finta= to pretend.
Non fare finta di non averlo visto!
Don't pretend you haven't seen that!
Fare un giro= to have a ride
andiamo a fare un giro!
Let's go for a ride!
Far vedere= to show
fammi vedere lo zaino!
Show me your rucksack!
Well, there certainly are more but I don't remember them right now. Another common meaning of fare is to play a part (both literally and metaphorically)
chi fa Romeo?
Who's playing Romeo?
Smettila di fare la vittima!
Stop playing the victim!
here's some pronominal/reflexive idioms with fare. (check out pronouns2 if you don't know what pronominal verbs are)
farsi fare= to have something done(important!)
when you say that you have something done, you basically say that someone is doing it for you. well, that's how we express this concept in Italian.
last week I had my hair cut
settimana scorsa mi sono fatto tagliare i capelli.
Farsi male= to get hurt
Mi sono fatto male cadendo dall scala.
I got hurt falling from the ladder.
Farsi gli affari/ i cazzi (slang) altrui= to nose into other people's business.
A Carla piace farsi gli affari altrui.
Carla likes nosing into other people's business.
Farsi gli affari/ i cazzi propri= to mind one's own business.
tier two ( somewhat unusual but still useful)
Fare un piacere= to do a favour
mi faresti un piacere?
Would you do me a favour?
Fare a caso= to notice/ to pay attantion.
Non fare a caso al disordine
don't pay attnetion to the mess.
Fare comodo= to be convenient
avere un negozio sotto casa fa comodo.
Having a shop underneath my house is very convenient.
Fare con comodo= to do something taking all the time you need.
Non c'è bisogno di fare di fretta. Fai con comodo.
There's no need to rush. Take your time.
Fare spazio= to make room
dobbiamo fare spazio per il bambino
we have to make room for the kid
fare figli= to have kids (with a negative nuance, oftentimes)
perchè hai fatto un figlio così giovane?
Why did you have a kid when you were so young?
Fare senso= to be disgusting (not to make sense!)
metti via quel cadavere, fa senso!
Put that corpse away, it is disgusting!
here's the pronominal and reflexive ones
farsene una ragione= to get over something.
Fattene una ragione, Valerio è morto.
Get over it, Valerio is dead.
farsi (reciprocal reflexive)= to kiss each others brazenly/ to have sex
Maria! Tu ed il tuo ragazzo non dovreste farvi in pubblico!
Maria! You and your boyfriend shouldn't kiss each others in public so brazenly!
Farsi valere= to assert oneself.
Non puoi lasciare che ti trattino così! Fatti valere!
You can't let them treat you like this! Assert yourself!
Farsi sentire= to pipe up/ to speak up so that people listen to you.
Non credere che finisca così! Mi farò sentire!
Don't you think it can be over like this! I will pipe up!
Farsi vedere=to show off, to be under the limelight/ to get visited by doctor.
A Marco piace farsi vedere.
Marco likes showing off.
Farsi belli= to dress up and generally to appear at one's best/ to try ingraciating someone.
Maria si fa sempre bella col capo.
Maria always tries looking at her best with the boss (to ingraciate him).
Farsi da parte= to step aside/ back , to retire
fammi passare! È ora che tu ti faccia da parte!
Let me through! It is about time you stepped back!
tier 3 ( weird, rare or situational ones)
Fare tesoro= to treasure.
Farò tesoro dei tuoi insegnamenti
I'll treasure your teachings
Fare mente locale= to focus, to try remembering something you have forgotten.
Fai mente locale, non puoi averlo perso.
Try focusing more. You can't have lost it.
fare ammenda= to atone
Luca ha fatto ammenda per i suoi peccati.
Luca has atoned his sins.
Fare luce (somewhat casual)= to light up.
Fai luce qui, non ci vedo.
Light up here, I can't see.
Fare al caso proprio= to be right for someone/ to suit something perfectly.
Questa sedia fa al caso mio!
This chair is right for me!
Fare del bene= to do good deeds/ to do charity
molti volontari fanno del bene in Africa a gratis.
Many volounteers help people out in Africa for free.
Fare del male= the opposite of fare del bene (as hurting people and being a villain, or something like
that)
Fare testo= to be a reference for something.
A casa mia fa testo quello che dico io.
My place, my rules (lit. at my house what I say is the reference)
Fare sul serio= to mean business
davvero vuoi aprire una gelateria? Fai sul serio?
Do you really mean to open a gelateria? Do you mean business?
Fare marcia indietro= to (do/make a) U-turn (both metaphorically and literally)
guarda che abbiamo già passato la casa di Maria, fai marcia indietro!
Man, we've already passed Maria's place, make a U-turn!
here the pronominal and reflexive ones are:
Poterci fare= ehm, this one is hard. It is something like to do about it
tutti mi trattono male! Cosa ci posso fare?
Everyone mistreats me! What can I do about it?
Farsi di qualcosa(non-reciprocal reflexive)= to be on drugs
non voglio che tu lo veda. Si fa di roba strana.
I don't want you to meet him. He takes weird drugs (sorry for the shoddy translation XP)
Farsi le coccole= to cuddle each other.
Amore, ci facciamo le coccole?
Honey, can we cuddle each other?
Farsi in quattro= to overdo/ to work like crazy.
Mi sono fatto in quattro per finire in tempo.
I've been working like hell to finish it in time.
ok, so this is it. there must be tons I've missed out, but these are the only ones I could remember at 2 am XD
of course no one expects you to learn them all, also because not all of them have to make or to do in their English translation, but in case you're looking for a cool Italian idiom, you could find the one that suits you just fine
Edited by matteo tironi - 6/10/2014, 20:20
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fare 2. level5basically, a bunch of idioms :) |
