Learn Italian: Come si dice questo in italiano? - How do you say this in Italian?

Come si dice questo in italiano?

How do you say this in Italian?

Breakdown of Come si dice questo in italiano?

in / made of (material)

come si dice

how do you say...?

Questions & Answers about Come si dice questo in italiano?

Why does the sentence use si dice instead of dici (you say)?

si dice literally means 'how does one say' or 'how is it said'. In English, we often use a general 'you' like 'how do you say', but Italian prefers to use si plus the 'he/she/it' form of the verb to talk about things people do in general.

Which verb does dice come from?

It comes from the irregular verb dire, which means 'to say' or 'to tell'. dice is the 'he/she/it' form, which is used here to match the general si.

Could I use questa instead of questo?

You would only use questa if you were pointing to a specific noun that you already know is feminine, like a pen (una penna). When asking about an unknown object, a general concept, or a phrase you want to translate, always use the default masculine singular questo.

Why is there no word for 'the' before italiano?

When you use the preposition in with the name of a language to mean 'in Italian', 'in Spanish', and so on, you drop the definite article (the word for 'the'). So it is simply in italiano.