Have you ever heard the word “magari” and wondered what it meant? The confusion can come from the fact that it actually has 2 very different meanings. Once you know them, it’s simple.
And if this word is new to you, it’s well worth learning because Italians use it all the time.
Learn more in episode #78 of five minute Italian
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Vocabulary: What does “magari” mean?
- Cosa fai stasera? = what are you doing tonight?
- Magari esco con le amiche = maybe I’ll go out with my friends
- Cosa = what
- Fai = you do
- Stasera = this evening
- Magari = maybe
- Esco = I go out
- Con = with
- Le amiche = the female friends.
- Forse = another word for maybe
- Ho mal di testa = I’ve got a headache
- Magari è perché hai bevuto troppo whiskey ieri sera = maybe it’s because you drank too much whiskey last night.
- Ho = I have
- Mal = bad
- Di = of
- Testa = head
- Magari = maybe
- È = it is
- Perché = because
- Hai = you have
- Bevuto = drunk
- Troppo = too much
- Whiskey = Whiskey
- Ieri = yesterday
- Sera = evening
- Chiamami domani, magari non troppo presto = call me tomorrow, preferably not too early.
- Chiamami = call me
- Domani = tomorrow
- Magari = maybe, preferably
- Non = not
- Troppo = too
- Presto = early
- Magari non bere così tanto whiskey la prossima volta = Maybe don’t drink so much whiskey next time (maybe you shouldn’t drink so much whiskey next time).
- Magari = maybe
- Non bere = don’t drink
- Così tanto = so much
- Whiskey = Whiskey
- La prossima = the next
- Volta = time
- Sabato vinceremo la lotteria = On Saturday we’re going to win the lottery
- Magari! = I wish! If only!
- Oggi è venerdì? = is it Friday today?
- Magari! È solo giovedì = I wish! It’s only Thursday.
- Oggi = today
- È = is
- Venerdì = Friday
- Magari = I wish! If only!
- È = it’s
- Solo = only
- Giovedì = Thursday
Quiz: What does “magari” mean?
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Flashcards: What does “magari” mean?
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Transcript: What does “magari” mean?
Please note, this is not a word for word transcript.
Katie: Ciao a tutti e benvenuti a 5 Minute Italian. I’m Katie.
Matteo: And I’m Matteo. Ciao!
K: In today’s episode, we’re talking about a word that Italians use all the time: “magari”. I remember when I first came to Italy, I found this word very confusing because I heard Italians using it all the time, but I couldn’t pin it down to one thing. Then when I asked Italians what it meant, they had a hard time too, so it became this mystical word which felt very difficult to translate.
Since then, I’ve realised that the reason it can seem so complicated is that it actually has two quite different meanings. When you learn them separately,, it’s fairly straight forward. Let’s give you some examples, and see if you can work it out.
M: Cosa fai stasera?
K: Magari esco con le amiche.
K: Again, Matteo asked:
M: Cosa fai stasera?
K: What are you doing this evening? Word for word:
M:
Cosa = what
Fai = you do
Stasera = this evening
K: And I said: Magari esco con le amiche. Magari I’m going out with friends. What do you think magari means here? Magari esco con le amiche. Magari I’m going out with friends. Can you guess? It means “maybe”. So here’s that whole sentence again:
M:
Magari = maybe
Esco = I go out
Con = with
Le amiche = the female friends.
K: So that’s the first and most common meaning of the word “magari”. It means maybe. You might have also heard “forse”. In this situation, they’re interchangeable. So you could say “magari esco con le amiche” or “forse esco con le amiche”. Let’s hear some more examples:
M: Ho mal di testa
K: Magari è perché hai bevuto troppo whiskey ieri sera
So Matteo said:
M: Ho mal di testa
K: I have a headache. Literally:
M:
Ho = I have
Mal = bad
Di = of
Testa = head
K: So that’s the rather cute way Italians say headache “mal di testa”. Then you heard:
M: Magari è perché hai bevuto troppo whiskey ieri sera
K: Maybe it’s because you drank too much whiskey last night
M:
Magari = maybe
È = it is
Perché = because
Hai = you have
Bevuto = drunk
Troppo = too much
Whiskey = Whiskey
Ieri = yesterday
Sera = evening
K: Just like in English, sometimes “maybe” or in Italian “magari” is an informal way to say “preferably”.
M: Chiamami domani, magari non troppo presto.
K: Call me tomorrow, preferably not too early. Literally:
M:
Chiamami = call me
Domani = tomorrow
Magari = maybe, preferably
Non = not
Troppo = too
Presto = early
Sometimes it’s a bit like saying maybe we should, or maybe we shouldn’t. For example:
M: Magari non bere così tanto whiskey la prossima volta
K: Maybe don’t drink so much whiskey next time (maybe you shouldn’t drink so much whiskey next time)
M:
Magari = maybe
Non bere = don’t drink
Così tanto = so much
Whiskey = Whiskey
La prossima = the next
Volta = time
K: So the first meaning is “maybe”. Let’s move on to the second, less common meaning. Listen to the dialogue and see if you can work it out.
M: Sabato vinceremo la lotteria
K: Magari!
K: Matteo said “Sabato vinceremo la lotteria.” On Saturday, we’ll win the lottery.
M:
Sabato = Saturday
Vinceremo = we’ll win
la lotteria = the lottery
And I rather incredulously said “Magari”. What do you think it means in this situation? The closest translation is “if only” “I wish” or as we say in British English: “chance would be a fine thing!”. So we use it for something that we would love to happen, but we think is pretty unlikely. Here are some more examples:
M: Oggi è venerdì?
K: Magari! È solo giovedì.
K: So Matteo said: “oggi è venerdì”? Is it Friday?
M:
Oggi = today
È = is
Venerdì = Friday
K: Then I said “Magari”, which in this case is like “if only” ,“I wish”. Because today is only Thursday:
M:
Magari = I wish!
È = it’s
Solo = only
Giovedì = Thursday
K: Time for a quick recap - The word magari has two main meanings. The first one is “maybe” and the second one is “I wish” and “if only”
If you’re like me and you find it useful to see all this stuff written down, on our website you’ll find the transcripts and other bonus materials like a quiz and flashcards to help you remember the phrases from today’s lesson. Go to www.joyoflanguages.com/italianpodcast and scroll down to episode 78. You can also practice chatting Italian with us in our facebook group, you can find the link in the show notes.
See you next time, or as we say in Italian
Alla prossima!
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