Log inSign up

Voglio tagliarmi i capelli, devo andare dal parrucchiere.

Voglio tagliarmi i capelli, devo andare dal parrucchiere.
I want to get a haircut, I must go to the hairdresser.
From Lesson 93:The locative pronoun (ci)·Italian

Questions & Answers about Voglio tagliarmi i capelli, devo andare dal parrucchiere.

Why is it tagliarmi i capelli instead of tagliare i miei capelli?
In Italian, when an action involves your own body or clothes, you don't usually use possessives like miei. Instead, you use a reflexive pronoun like mi (to myself) and the definite article i. Literally, the phrase translates to 'to cut to myself the hair'.
Since tagliarmi uses a reflexive pronoun, does this mean I am cutting my own hair?
It translates literally to cutting your own hair, but Italians use this exact phrase to mean 'to get a haircut' by a professional. The second half of the sentence (dal parrucchiere) makes it perfectly clear that someone else will be doing the scissors work!
Why is it dal parrucchiere and not al parrucchiere?
When you go to a person's house or workplace (like a doctor, a friend, or a hairdresser), Italian requires the preposition da rather than a. Here, da combines with the definite article il to form dal.
How could I use the pronoun ci from this lesson to say 'I must go there'?
You would replace dal parrucchiere with the locative pronoun ci (meaning 'there'). Because there is an infinitive verb (andare), you can drop its final 'e' and attach ci to the end, making devo andarci. You can also place it before the conjugated verb: ci devo andare.

Learn Voglio tagliarmi i capelli, devo andare dal parrucchiere and more in Italian

All course content and exercises are completely free — no paywalls, no trial periods, no signup needed.

  • ✓ Practice with interactive exercises
  • ✓ Track your progress with spaced repetition
  • ✓Learn at your own pace — completely free
Start learning Italian →