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To write an over-the-top sales pitch, standard words simply aren't enough. In Italian, express absolute extremes by attaching prefixes of intensity directly to the beginnings of adjectives, nouns, and verbs.

### Supercharging adjectives

Push adjectives to their absolute limits with these prefixes:

- **iper-**: Meaning "hyper-" or "ultra-", this gives a high-tech, medical, or extreme spin to an adjective (*ipertecnologico*, *ipersensibile*, *ipercalorico*).
- **arci-**: Equivalent to "arch-" or "extremely", this elevates emotional states or personal conditions to their peak (*arcicontento*, *arcistufo*).

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### Going overboard with *stra-* and *sovra-*

While *iper-* and *arci-* are heavily used with adjectives, other prefixes easily exaggerate verbs and nouns as well:

- **stra-**: Meaning "extra-" or "over-", this is one of the most common prefixes in spoken Italian. Use it to say a place is beyond full (*strapieno*), a person is filthy rich (*straricco*), or that you paid way too much (*strapagare*).
- **sovra-**: Meaning "over-", use this when a physical limit or capacity is exceeded, whether it relates to body weight (*il sovrappeso*) or overwhelming a system (*sovraccaricare*).

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### Pitching to the extremes

Stack these prefixes to describe ridiculous scenarios, exaggerated pain points, and miraculous solutions in your sales pitches.

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Prefixes of intensity (stra-, iper-)

adjective

adjective/adverb

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

preposition

pronoun

proper noun

sentence

verb

Subject pronouns and the verb to be (io sono)

Singular definite articles (il, la)

Singular demonstratives (questo, questa)

Basic verbal negation (non)

Yes/No questions

Coordinating conjunctions (e, ma, o)

Regular plurals and definite articles (-i, -e, i, le)

Plural verb to be (noi siamo, voi siete)

Plural demonstratives (questi, queste)

Nouns ending in -e

Special singular articles (lo, l')

The plural article (gli)

Special indefinite articles (uno, un')

Demonstrative adjectives (quello, quella)

Adjective endings (-o, -a, -i, -e)

Expressing quantity (molto, poco, tanto)

The verb to have (ho, hai, ha...)

There is / there are (c'è, ci sono)

The preposition of (di)

Singular possessives (il mio, la mia)

Numbers 1 to 10 (uno, due, tre...)

Numbers 11 to 20 (undici, dodici...)

Numbers 21 to 100 (trenta, quaranta...)

Idiomatic avere (avere fame, avere anni)

Plural possessive adjectives (i miei, le mie)

Possessives with family members (mio padre)

Formal address (dare del Lei)

Present tense of -are verbs (-o, -i, -a)

Question words (chi, cosa, dove)

Present tense of -ere verbs (-o, -i, -e)

Question words (quando, come, perché)

Question word agreement (quanto, quanta, quanti, quante)

Regular -ire verbs

Verbs with -isc- (capisco, capisci, capisce)

Pronouns after prepositions (me, te, lui)

The verb fare (faccio, fai, fa)

The verb andare (vado, vai, va)

The verb stare (sto, stai, sta)

The verb venire (vengo, vieni, viene)

The verb uscire (esco, esci, esce)

Location and destination (a, in)

Origin and movement (da)

Articulated prepositions with a (al, alla)

Articulated prepositions with in (nel, nella)

Articulated prepositions with di and da (del, dal)

Simple prepositions (con, per, su, tra)

Articulated prepositions with su (sul, sulla)

Months of the year

Telling time (sono le...)

Dates (il + number)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primo, secondo, terzo...)

The verb to want (volere)

The verb can (potere)

The verb must (dovere)

The verb to know (sapere)

Reflexive verbs (mi lavo, ti lavi)

Indirect object pronouns (gli, le, ci...)

Expressing preferences (mi piace)

Plural preferences (mi piacciono)

Comparatives (più... di, meno... di)

The passato prossimo with avere (ho parlato)

Irregular past participles (fatto, letto, preso)

The passato prossimo with essere (sono andato)

Reflexive verbs in the past (mi sono svegliato)

Time adverbs with the past tense (già, mai, ancora)

Third-person direct object pronouns (lo, la, li, le)

First and second-person direct object pronouns (mi, ti, ci, vi)

The four seasons

Prepositions of place (vicino a, davanti a)

Conversational words (beh, allora, davvero)

Indefinite adjectives for some (qualche, alcuni)

Indefinite adjectives for every and all (ogni, tutti)

Indefinite pronouns (qualcosa, qualcuno)

Noun suffixes (-ino, -one)

Adverbs of manner (-mente)

Comparisons of equality (così... come)

The relative superlative (il più)

The absolute superlative (-issimo)

Irregular comparatives (migliore, peggiore)

Present progressive (stare + -ando, -endo)

Imminent actions (stare per)

The locative pronoun (ci)

The partitive pronoun (ne)

Pronoun placement with modal verbs

Impersonal subjects (si)

Prepositions of time (da, per, tra, fra)

Past participle agreement with pronouns

Question	Answer
absolutely fed up	arcistufo
overweight	il sovrappeso
ultra-technological	ipertecnologico
I was absolutely fed up with being overweight, so I had to train with this ultra-technological machine!	Ero arcistufo del sovrappeso, quindi mi sono dovuto allenare con questa macchina ipertecnologica!
It took us a thousand hours to invent this ultra-technological home appliance!	Ci abbiamo messo mille ore per inventare questo elettrodomestico ipertecnologico!
to overpay	strapagare
extremely happy	arcicontento
It took two minutes to assemble it, I didn't overpay, and I am extremely happy!	Ci sono voluti due minuti per montarlo, non ho strapagato e sono arcicontento!
high-calorie	ipercalorico
hypersensitive	ipersensibile
I believed that this high-calorie food was harmful to my hypersensitive skin!	Credevo che questo cibo ipercalorico fosse nocivo per la mia pelle ipersensibile!
completely full	strapieno
filthy rich	straricco
I couldn't believe that this ultra-technological restaurant was already fully packed with filthy rich customers!	Non credevo che questo ristorante ipertecnologico fosse già strapieno di clienti straricchi!
Are you absolutely fed up with being overweight and finally want to lose weight?	Sei arcistufo del sovrappeso e vuoi finalmente dimagrire?
I had to get angry because I overpaid for this ultra-technological gadget!	Mi sono dovuto arrabbiare perché ho strapagato questo gadget ipertecnologico!
If you buy this cream for hypersensitive skin, you will be extremely happy!	Se compra questa crema per la pelle ipersensibile, sarà arcicontento!
We wanted the filthy rich customer to appreciate our high-calorie dessert!	Volevamo che il cliente straricco apprezzasse il nostro dolce ipercalorico!
This ultra-technological gadget solves the problem of being overweight!	Questo gadget ipertecnologico risolve il problema del sovrappeso!
It took me three hours to empty the fully packed warehouse, and I was absolutely fed up!	Ci ho messo tre ore per svuotare il magazzino strapieno, ed ero arcistufo!
to overload	sovraccaricare
If you overload the server, you won't have to overpay any developer!	Se sovraccarica il server, non dovrà strapagare nessuno sviluppatore!
I had to wake up at night because my hypersensitive stomach doesn't digest high-calorie food!	Mi sono dovuto svegliare di notte perché il mio stomaco ipersensibile non digerisce il cibo ipercalorico!
This hyper-technological product never overloads the system!	Questo prodotto ipertecnologico non sovraccarica mai il sistema!