In Italian, to express that an action is being repeated, you attach the prefix ri- to the beginning of a verb. This works exactly like the English prefix "re-".
The Iterative Prefix "ri-"
When you need to "redo" or "reread" something, you simply add ri- to the base verbs fare and leggere.
| The employee must redo all the work. | L'impiegato deve rifare tutto il lavoro. |
| I reread the document, but there is something strange. | Ho riletto il documento, ma c'è qualcosa di strano. |
Because these derived verbs are just variations of the base verb, they conjugate exactly the same way. If the base verb has an irregular past participle (like scritto for scrivere), the ri- version will share it (riscritto).
| We rewrote the minutes of the meeting. | Abbiamo riscritto il verbale della riunione. |
Reorganizing the Office
The ri- prefix is incredibly useful when talking about rearranging your workspace, modifying a project, or updating business strategies.
| They want to reorganize the office so that it is more spacious. | Vogliono riorganizzare l'ufficio in modo che sia più spazioso. |
| We must rethink the sales strategy. | Dobbiamo ripensare la strategia di vendita. |
When discussing the office layout or managing paperwork, you will also need some specific workplace vocabulary. For example, la disposizione refers to the arrangement or layout of items, and il faldone is a binder or large folder used for archiving documents.
| the arrangement | la disposizione |
| The new arrangement of the furniture is very comfortable. | La nuova disposizione dei mobili è molto comoda. |
| the binder | il faldone |
| Where do I put this heavy binder? | Dove metto questo faldone pesante? |
Double-checking and Reviewing
Routine office tasks frequently involve verifying work that has already been done. Notice how ri- is used with standard verbs to create terms like ricontrollare (to double-check, or check again) and rivedere (to review, or see again).
| By the way, we must double-check the folders before the meeting. | A proposito, dobbiamo ricontrollare i faldoni prima della riunione. |
| Can you review the layout of this office, please? | Puoi rivedere la disposizione di questo ufficio, per favore? |