Tanto vale usare il rovescio.

Tanto vale is a very common idiomatic expression meaning might as well, it’s just as well to, or there’s little point doing anything else.

Word for word, it looks like it is worth that much, but that literal breakdown is not how English speakers should understand it in real use. In this sentence, it expresses a practical or slightly resigned idea: given the situation, using il rovescio is as good an option as any.

It is best to learn tanto vale as a set expression.

Of course, the words have their own meanings:

• tanto can mean so much, so, or that much
• vale means is worth

But in this combination, the phrase works idiomatically. If you try to translate each word separately every time, you may miss the real meaning. For learners, it is safest to remember:

tanto vale + infinitive = might as well + verb

So:

• Tanto vale usare il rovescio = Might as well use the reverse side / the back / the backhand, depending on context.

Because Italian often leaves the subject unstated when it is understood from context, and tanto vale is often used impersonally.

So Tanto vale usare il rovescio does not need to say who is doing the action. Depending on the situation, it could mean:

• I might as well use...
• we might as well use...
• you might as well use...
• one might as well use...

English usually needs to choose a subject, but Italian often does not.

Because tanto vale is commonly followed by an infinitive.

This is the normal pattern:

tanto vale + infinitive

Examples:

• Tanto vale aspettare. = Might as well wait.
• Tanto vale andare. = Might as well go.
• Tanto vale usare il rovescio. = Might as well use the reverse side / back / backhand.

The infinitive names the action in a general way, just like English does after might as well.

Rovescio has several possible meanings, so the exact translation depends on context.

Common meanings include:

• the reverse side
• the back
• the wrong side
• the reverse
• in sports, especially tennis: backhand

So usare il rovescio could mean things like:

• use the other side
• use the reverse side
• use the backhand

If the meaning has already been shown to the learner, then the important thing to notice is that rovescio is a flexible word whose meaning is strongly context-dependent.

Because Italian usually uses the definite article with nouns like this when referring to a specific thing or a known concept.

Here, il rovescio means the reverse side / the back / the backhand. The article il shows that we are talking about a particular, identifiable rovescio.

Also, rovescio is:

• masculine
• singular

So the correct article is il.

English often omits articles in places where Italian keeps them, so this can feel unusual to English speakers.

Not in a straightforward, literal way.

In tanto vale, tanto is part of the whole idiomatic expression. So even though tanto often means so much or a lot, here the phrase as a whole means something more like it’s just as worthwhile or might as well.

So for this sentence, do not think:

• so much is worth using the reverse

Instead, think:

• might as well use the reverse

That is much closer to how an Italian speaker actually uses the expression.

Not exactly.

They can sometimes be similar, but the tone is different:

• è meglio = it’s better
• tanto vale = might as well / at this point, that’s as good a choice as any

Tanto vale often suggests:

• resignation
• practicality
• a sense that alternatives are not really better

For example, it can sound like:

• given the situation, let’s just do this
• since the other options are no better, we may as well do this

So Tanto vale usare il rovescio can sound a bit more like well, we might as well use the reverse side than simply it’s better to use the reverse side.

Yes.

The basic form here is tanto vale, which fits a present situation or a general statement.

Related forms include:

• tanto varrebbe = it might be just as well / one might as well
• tanto valeva = it might as well have been / it was just as well to, depending on context

Examples:

• Tanto vale restare. = We might as well stay.
• Tanto varrebbe restare. = We might as well stay / It might be just as well to stay.
• Tanto valeva restare. = We might as well have stayed / It would have been just as well to stay.

As a learner, the main thing to master first is the very common pattern tanto vale + infinitive.