| Principal Translations/Traduzioni principali |
| come avv | (in quale modo, maniera) | how |
| | Come preferisci che ti cucini le uova? |
| | How would you like me to cook your eggs? |
| come avv | (nello stesso modo che, quasi che) | as though |
| | Gli parlò come fosse un fratello. |
| | I talk to him as though he were a brother. |
| come avv | (è lo stesso che) | like, just like adv |
| | | same as adv |
| | È partito come un razzo verso l'uscita. |
| | He left towards the exit like a rocket. |
| come avv | (tanto quanto) | as much as |
| | Di questa faccenda io ne so come te. |
| | I know as much as you about this matter. |
| come avv | (in veste di) | as adv |
| | Lo hanno assunto come analista ma in realtà gli fanno fare un po' di tutto. |
| | They hired him as an analyst, but in fact have him do a bit of everything. |
| come avv | (vari usi enfatici) | - |
| Nota: Each context has a different translation. |
| | Ora come ora non se ne parla. |
| | At present, she is not speaking about it. |
| come avv | (interrogativo: in che modo) (question) | how adv |
| | How are you getting down to the city today? |
| come cong | (non appena) | as soon as conj |
| | Come l'ostaggio è riuscito a divincolarsi, i poliziotti si sono scagliati sul rapinatore fuori dalla banca. |
| | As soon as the hostage was able to get away, the police officers pounced on the kidnapper outside of the bank. |
| come nm | (il modo, il mezzo) | how n |
| | Questo compito è importante e ti invito a metterci impegno: non importa il quando lo fai, ma il come. |
| | This task is important and I would like you to make an effort: it doesn't matter when you do it, but how you do it. |
Compound Forms/Forme composte
|
| amici come prima | | friends again expr |
| | Se non ti va di aiutarmi, non c'è problema: amici come prima. |
| andare come il pane vi | idiomatico (bene, merce: essere molto richiesto) | sell like hot cakes v expr |
| | Quel libro va come il pane in questo periodo. |
| | That book is selling like hot cakes right now. |
| andare come un treno | | fly like the wind |
| | | carry on without stopping |
andare liscio come l'olio,
filare liscio come l'olio | | go very smoothly |
| | | go very well |
| andarsene come un ladro | | leave like a thief |
| arrampicarsi come una capra | | climb like a goat |
| assomigliarsi come due gocce d'acqua | | look very much alike |
| | | be like two peas in a pod |
| bello come il sole | (literally, as beautiful as the sun) | as beautiful as a summer's day expr |
| bere come una spugna | | drink like a fish |
| bestemmiare come un turco | | to swear like a sailor |
| bianco come un cencio | | white like snow |
| brutto come il peccato | | ugly as sin |
| brutto come la fame | | very ugly |
| buono come il pane | | good-natured |
| cadere come una pera cotta | | to fall like dead |
| Nota: to fall like a cooked pear! |
| calvo come una palla da biliardo | | as bald as a cue ball |
| calzare come un guanto | | fits like a glove |
| camminare come un'oca | | walk like a duck |
| cantare come un usignolo | (to report on someone) | to sing like a canary |
| cascare come il cacio sui maccheroni | | to suit perfectly |
| chissà come | | who knows how |
chiudersi come un riccio,
chiudersi a riccio | (become very shy) | to shut up like a clam, to clam up |
ciao,
come stai? inter | informale (come va?) | Hi, how are you? |
| cieco come una talpa | | blind as a bat |
| Nota: In Italy you say, blind like a mole. |
| come al solito | | as usual, as always expr |
| | Come al solito Isaac è in ritardo. |
| | Isaac is late as usual. |
| come anche loc avv | (ad esempio) | as well as |
| come anticipato | | as I said before |
| | (contracts) | as previously mentioned |
| come bere un bicchier d'acqua | | easy, normal, unexceptional adj |
| | | like drinking a glass of water |
| come concordato | formale (come da accordi) | as agreed |
| | Come concordato, alleghiamo la documentazione da voi richiesta. |
| | As agreed, we are attaching the documentation you requested. |
| come da prep | (nel modo previsto) | as |
| come da accordi loc avv | (nel modo concordato) | as agreed |
| come da accordi telefonici | | as per telephone agreement, as per telephone conversation expr |
| come da contratto | | as per the contract, as stated in the contract, as per contractual agreement expr |
| come da indicazione | | as indicated, as suggested, as instructed expr |
| come da istruzioni | | as per instructions expr |
| come da procedura standard | | according to standard procedure expr |
| come da tradizione | | according to tradition expr |
| come darti torto | | how can I blame you? |
| come darti torto? | | Who can blame you? expr |
| | | I can't argue with that. expr |
| Come Dio comanda | (literally: as God commands, as God wishes) | do [sth] by the book, do [sth] to the letter expr |
| come Dio comanda | | in the right way |
| | | as it should |
| come è noto | | as is known, as is common knowledge expr |
| come fai a dirlo? | | How can you say that?, How can you tell?, What makes you say that? expr |
| come fare per | | how to... |
| come fiocca stamani! | (literal) | it's snowing a lot this morning! |
| | (figurative, sarcastic) | there's too much going on |
| Nota: Expression used to lament or comment on a rapid succession of events or situations that are hard to manage, falling like snowflakes. |
| come funziona? | | How does it work? expr |
| come hai potuto farlo!!! | | How could you?!, How could you do that?! expr |
| come il cacio sui maccheroni loc avv | (al momento giusto) (idiomatic) | just what the doctor ordered expr |
| | La tua osservazione capita come il cacio sui maccheroni. |
| | Your advice was just what the doctor ordered. |
| come il fumo negli occhi | | as a smokescreen |
| come l'ha fatto mamma | | completely naked |
| come la mettiamo? | | Now what? expr |
| | | What are we going to do about it? expr |
| come mai loc avv | (perché, per quale motivo) | how come expr |
| | Come mai ti sei iscritto a un corso di fotografia sapendo che non hai tempo per frequentarlo? |
| come mai inter | (perché mai) | how is it that expr |
| | (showing great surprise or shock) | why on earth expr |
| | Hai lasciato Paolo? E come mai? |
| come no! inter | anche ironico (certamente!) | Certainly! |
| | | For sure! |
| | | Right! |
| | | Of course! |
| come non detto | | forget it, never mind expr |
| | Come non detto: mi rimangio tutto quello che pensavo di te. |
| | Forget it: I take back everything I said. |
| come passa il tempo! | | How time flies! expr |
| come per incanto | | as if by magic, out of the blue, out of thin air expr |
| come potrei? | | How could I? expr |
| come previsto | | as expected |
| | | as anticipated |
| come procede | (come va) | how are things |
| come procede? | | How's it going? expr |
| | | How are things coming along? expr |
| come pure loc avv | (anche) | just like, just as |
| come restiamo? | | How shall we leave things?, What's the plan? expr |
| come richiesto | | as requested |
| come rimaniamo? | colloquiale (prendere accordi) | How shall we leave things?, What's the plan? expr |
| | Allora, come rimaniamo per sabato sera? |
| come risulta da | | as shown by |
| | | as demonstrated by |
| | Julie never studies, as shown by the results of this test. |
| come risulta da [qlcs] | (come si evince da [qlcs]) | as per something |
come sai,
come sapete | | as you know |
| | | as you all know |
| come sai | | as you know |
| come se cong | (nello stesso modo) | as if |
| come se non bastasse loc avv | (ad ulteriore danno) | As if that were not enough |
| Come se piovesse | (literal) | as if it were raining |
| | | when it rains it pours idiom |
| come segue loc avv | (come indicato in seguito) | as follows |
| | | as explained later |
| come sempre loc avv | (come ogni volta) | as usual |
| | | as always |
| come si chiama v | (chiedere nome) (formal) | What is your name? |
| come si deve | | as it should be |
| | | in the right way |
| come si dice v | (chiedere traduzione, ecc.) | How do you say...? |
| | | How do you translate ...? |
| | How do you say "cheese" in Italian? |
| come si dice? | | How do you say?, What the word? expr |
| come si fa | | what should we do? |
| | | what should be done? |
| | | how does this happen |
| | | how does one ... |
| Nota: Asked ltierally or rhetorically, lamenting a situation |
| come si fa? | | How do you do it? expr |
| | | How is that possible? expr |
| | Ma come si fa a essere così cattivi? |
| come si suol dire | | as they say expr |
| | | as it's said expr |
| come sopra prep | | as above |
| come sta? inter | formale (saluto, convenevoli) | How are you? |
| come stai inter | informale (saluto, convenevoli) | How are you? |
| come stai? | | How are you? expr |
| | Come stai oggi, dopo che ieri non ti sei presentata al lavoro? |
| | How are you? Yesterday you didn't come to work. |
| come te la passi? | | What's up?, How's it going? expr |
| come te lo devo dire? | | How can I make you understand?, How many times do I have to tell you? expr |
| come ti permetti? | esprime fastidio, scandalo (con quale coraggio?) | how dare you? |
| come ti sei trovato? | | Did you like it there?, Did you have a good time? expr |
| | | How did you get on? expr |
| come ti senti? | | How are you feeling? |
| come un dannato | | (working) like a dog |
| | | like crazy, like a crazy person |
| come va? | (colloquial) | How's it going? expr |
| | Come va il lavoro? |
| | How's work going? |
| come va? | (colloquial) | What's up? expr |
| | Ciao, come va? |
| | Hey, what's up? |
| Come va? | | how are you doing? |
| | | how are things? |
| come vanno le cose | | how are things going |
| come viene viene | | it goes as it goes |
| | | whatever happens |
| | | haphazard |
| come volevasi dimostrare | (mathematics, end of proof) | QED (quod erat demonstrandum) expr |
| | (colloquial) | just goes to show, sure enough expr |
| come vuoi inter | informale (fai come meglio credi) | as you wish |
| comportarsi come se niente fosse | | act like nothing happened v expr |
| conoscere come le proprio tasche vtr | (conoscere alla perfezione) | know like the back of your hand |