Prendere Idioms

If English speakers tend to use take and have and make somewhat interchangeably, Italians put a much heavier load on prendere — "to take." Italians prendono un caffè (rather than have one), prendono il treno (rather than catch one), prendono freddo (rather than get cold), prendono sonno (rather than fall asleep), prendono una decisione (rather than make one), and they prendono in giro their friends instead of teasing them. The verb covers an enormous semantic range and combines with nouns to form dozens of fixed expressions that simply don't reduce to "take."

This page maps the most frequent prendere idioms — beverages and food, transport, illness, sleep, mockery, decisions, physical violence, intellectual acts (prendere alla lettera, prendere posizione), and the famously useful prenderla bene / male for "taking it well or badly." If you master prendere alongside fare, dare, and mettere, you control the four light verbs that drive about a third of everyday Italian.

The master table

Prendere un caffè — Italians take coffee, they don't have it

In English you have a coffee. In Italian you take one. Prendere un caffè is the canonical verb for consuming any drink — coffee, tea, water, beer, an aperitivo. This sounds odd to English ears at first, but it is the invariable choice in everyday Italian.

The use extends to ordering at restaurants and bars: Cosa prendi? ("What are you having?") and Io prendo... ("I'll have...") are the standard ordering formulas. Bere un caffè (literally drink a coffee) is grammatical but feels clinical, like saying consume a coffee in English. Prendere is the Italian default.

The same pattern extends to small portions of food, especially snack-like items: prendere un gelato ("have an ice cream"), prendere un cornetto ("have a croissant"). For full meals, the verb is usually fare (fare colazione, fare pranzo) or mangiare.

Prendere il treno / l'autobus / l'aereo — taking transport

Italian uses prendere for boarding any form of transport — exactly like English take a train, take a bus, take a plane. The construction is direct: prendere + il / la / l' + means of transport.

The verb covers both the act of boarding and the broader sense of using that mode of transport. It does not typically mean catch in the time-pressed sense (I caught the last train); for that, Italians use prendere al volo ("take on the wing") or fare in tempo a prendere ("manage to catch in time"). Sono riuscito a prendere il treno per un pelo ("I just barely caught the train").

Prendere freddo / l'influenza / il raffreddore — catching illness

Italian uses prendere where English uses catch or get for illnesses and exposure. Prendere freddo (without article) means to catch a chill from the cold — what your grandmother warned against when you went out without a scarf.

Note the article: prendere freddo (no article — generic exposure) but prendere l'influenza / il raffreddore (with article — specific illness). This is a fixed pattern.

Prendere sonno — falling asleep

Prendere sonno means to fall asleep. The literal take sleep is more poetic than the bare addormentarsi and is the more frequent everyday phrasing.

The contrast with avere sonno ("to be sleepy") is worth noting: avere sonno is the state of feeling drowsy; prendere sonno is the event of crossing into sleep.

Prendere in giro — teasing and mocking

Prendere in giro (qualcuno) is one of the most distinctively Italian idioms — to tease, to kid, to make fun of. The literal take around refers to the old metaphor of leading someone in giro — around in circles, being made to chase nothing. The English kidding is the closest match in tone.

The interrogative Mi prendi in giro? is one of the most useful conversational phrases in Italian — equivalent to English Are you kidding me? / Are you serious? in tone. It expresses disbelief, surprise, or playful skepticism.

Prendere posto — taking a seat

Prendere posto is the formal/standard way to say take a seat, especially in public contexts (theater, lecture, restaurant). Casual conversation more often uses sedersi ("to sit down"), but prendere posto is the polite hosting verb.

Prendere una decisione — making a decision

A subtle but important false-friend trap: prendere una decisione is to make a decision. The English calque fare una decisione is wrong — Italian doesn't use fare here. The metaphor is "taking" the decision out of the available options.

This is one of the most frequently cited "verb-collocation traps" in Italian for English speakers — and one of the easiest to fix once you know it. Decisions are taken, not made.

Prendere fiato — catching one's breath

Prendere fiato literally takes the breath — meaning to catch one's breath, to take a breather, to pause for a moment. It works both physically (after exertion) and figuratively (after a stressful period).

Prendere coraggio — summoning courage

Prendere coraggio is to summon up courage, to gather one's nerve. The metaphor mirrors English take heart or take courage, though Italian uses it more freely for everyday small acts of nerve.

Prendere in considerazione — considering / taking into account

Prendere in considerazione means to consider, to take into account. It is slightly more formal than the plain considerare and is the natural choice in deliberative or business contexts.

Prendere a calci / a pugni — kicking and punching

For physical violence, Italian pairs prendere with a + plural noun for the type of blow: prendere a calci ("to kick"), prendere a pugni ("to punch"), prendere a sberle / a schiaffi ("to slap repeatedly"), prendere a pedate ("to kick repeatedly").

This prendere a construction is reciprocal with dare un pugno, dare un calcio from Dare Idioms: the giver dà un pugno, the receiver gets caught in prendere a pugni. The plural ("kicks," "punches") in prendere a calci signals an extended attack rather than a single blow.

Prendere alla lettera — taking literally

Prendere alla lettera is to take literally. The literal take to the letter corresponds neatly to English take to the letter / by the letter. It is everyday Italian.

Prendere posizione — taking a stand

Prendere posizione (su / contro / a favore di) means to take a position, to take a stand — typically in public debate, journalism, or organized politics.

Prendere lezioni / appunti / note / la parola — academic and meeting verbs

A cluster of prendere idioms covers schoolroom and meeting-room actions:

• prendere lezioni di X — to take lessons in X (piano, tennis, Italian)
• prendere appunti — to take notes (in class). Prendere note exists but is less standard than appunti.
• prendere la parola — to take the floor, to begin speaking (in meetings, parliament)

Prendere la parola is firmly formal — meeting and parliamentary register. In casual speech, you wouldn't say it.

Prenderla bene vs prenderla male — reacting to news

The construction prenderla bene / male ("to take it well / badly") describes how someone reacts emotionally to news, criticism, a disappointment, or a joke. The clitic la refers to the unspoken cosa — the situation being reacted to.

The negative imperative non prenderla male ("don't take it the wrong way") is one of the most useful phrases in Italian — the standard preface to mild criticism or unwelcome news. It softens what comes next.

Common Mistakes

Key takeaways

• Prendere combines with a noun to form dozens of fixed expressions. Most encode "incorporating something into oneself" — a beverage, a vehicle, an illness, a decision, a reaction.
• Decisions are taken, not made: prendere una decisione. This is one of the highest-frequency verb-collocation errors for English speakers.
• Prendere un caffè is how Italians order any beverage. Cosa prendi? / Io prendo... is the standard ordering formula.
• Prendere in giro is the everyday verb for teasing / kidding / mocking. Mi prendi in giro? is the disbelief-and-surprise interrogative.
• Prenderla bene / male describes how someone reacts to news. Non prenderla male softens criticism.
• For physical violence, Italian uses prendere a + plural noun: prendere a calci / a pugni / a sberle. This pairs with dare un pugno, dare un calcio on the giving side.
• Prendere posizione and prendere la parola are formal/meeting register; prendere coraggio and prendere fiato work everywhere.

For the full conjugation of prendere — including the irregular passato remoto (presi, prendesti, prese) and irregular past participle preso — see Prendere: Full Conjugation. For the parallel idiom families, see Fare Idioms, Dare Idioms, and Mettere Idioms.