Se non controllo la lista della spesa, dimentico sempre qualcosa.

Se means if. It introduces a condition:

• Se non controllo la lista della spesa... = If I don’t check the shopping list...

This is the normal way to form if clauses in Italian.

Because after se in a real, everyday condition, Italian normally uses a conjugated verb, not the infinitive.

So:

• Se non controllo... = If I don’t check...

and not:

• Se non controllare... ❌

Here controllo is the 1st person singular present tense of controllare.

Italian often uses the present tense for things that happen regularly or generally, just like English does in sentences such as:

• If I don’t check the list, I always forget something.

This sentence describes a habitual result, not a one-time future event. So the present tense is perfect:

• controllo = I check
• dimentico = I forget

Italian usually leaves out subject pronouns when they are not needed, because the verb ending already shows the subject.

• controllo clearly means I check
• dimentico clearly means I forget

You could say io, but it would usually add emphasis:

• Se non controllo la lista della spesa, io dimentico sempre qualcosa.

That sounds more marked, as if you are stressing I, not someone else.

This is very normal in Italian.

• la lista = the list
• della spesa = of the shopping / for shopping

Della is a contraction of di + la.

So literally the phrase is something like:

• the list of the shopping

But in natural English, we simply say:

• the shopping list

Italian often keeps articles in places where English would not.

Because lista della spesa is the standard fixed expression for shopping list.

Italian often uses noun + di + article + noun in set expressions:

• la lista della spesa
• il giorno della festa
• la fermata dell’autobus

Saying lista di spesa is not the usual standard choice here.

Here controllare means to check, to look over, or to make sure by consulting.

In this sentence, it means checking the shopping list to confirm what you need.

Depending on context, controllare can also mean:

• to inspect
• to verify
• to control

But here check is the best translation.

Sometimes, but the meaning shifts a bit.

• guardare = to look at
• controllare = to check / verify

So:

• Se non guardo la lista della spesa... = If I don’t look at the shopping list...
• Se non controllo la lista della spesa... = If I don’t check the shopping list...

Both can work, but controllare suggests more clearly that you are consulting it carefully so you do not forget anything.

Sempre is an adverb meaning always, and it naturally goes with the verb phrase:

• dimentico sempre qualcosa = I always forget something

The word order is very normal in Italian:

• verb + adverb + object/indefinite word

So:

• dimentico sempre qualcosa

sounds natural and standard.

Qualcosa means something.

So:

• dimentico sempre qualcosa = I always forget something

It is an indefinite pronoun, used when you do not specify what the thing is.

You may also see qualche cosa, written as two words, but qualcosa is more common in everyday modern Italian.

The comma separates the if-clause from the main clause:

• Se non controllo la lista della spesa, dimentico sempre qualcosa.

This is very common and helps readability.

In short:

• first part = the condition
• second part = the result

Italian punctuation here is very similar to English.

It is a real or general condition: something that regularly happens.

• Se non controllo la lista della spesa, dimentico sempre qualcosa. = If I don’t check the shopping list, I always forget something.

This is different from a more hypothetical sentence such as:

• Se non controllassi la lista della spesa, dimenticherei qualcosa. = If I didn’t check the shopping list, I would forget something.

The original sentence sounds more like a repeated fact or habit.

Yes. You can put the main clause first:

• Dimentico sempre qualcosa se non controllo la lista della spesa.

This means the same thing.

The version starting with se is often slightly more natural when you want to present the condition first, but both are correct.