Classroom Italian (non ho capito)

Survival Italian for learners

The fastest way to learn Italian is to ask about Italian — in Italian. This lesson is your classroom survival kit: fixed phrases you deploy whole, the moment the language runs ahead of you. Do not build them from grammar; say them as they are.

When you are lost

I didn't understandnon ho capito — *I did not understand* — is the honest start of every repair. Follow it with can you repeat?puoi ripetere — *can you repeat?* The verb inside is **ripetere**, a regular **-ere** verb you can also use on its own: an *insegnante* repeats a word, students repeat a rule. And when the answer itself is missing, admit it with I don't knownon lo so — *I do not know*.

Asking about words

Three questions built on si — which you met with reflexive verbs — treat the language itself as the subject:

ask...	to find out...
how do you say...?	come si dice
how to say something
how do you write / spell...?	come si scrive
how to write or spell it
what is he/she/it called?	come si chiama
what someone or something is called

When the mystery is the meaning, ask what does ... mean?

che cosa significa — what does it mean? — and point at the word.