Have you ever studied the “Si spersonalizzante“?
The so called “Si spersonalizzante” is used in Italian to make the verb impersonal.
When there is not a specific subject, we use the particle “si” as an indefinite subject which refers to people in general.
We have to distinguish a number of different situations though.
Let’s go through some examples to better understand it!
| |
Italian |
English |
| 1 |
Ad agosto in Italia si va al mare. |
In August in Italy people go to the seaside. |
| 2 |
Si sente un buon profumo di fiori. |
You can smell a nice scent of flowers. |
| 3 |
Dalle montagne si vedono panorami meravigliosi. |
From the mountains it is possible to see marvelous landscapes. |
| 4 |
Alle terme ci si rilassa molto. |
At the thermal baths you can relax a lot. |
| 5 |
Quando finiscono le vacanze si è sempre tristi. |
When holidays finish people are always sad. |
In example n.1, we have an impersonal construction with an intransitive verb: in this case we use si + third person singular of the verb.
In n.2 we have an impersonal construction with a transitive verb agreed with a singular object (un buon profumo): so we use si + third person singular of the verb + singular object.
Example n.3 is an impersonal construction with a transitive verb agreed with a plural object (panorami meravigliosi): in this case we use si + third person plural of the verb + plural object.
N.4 refers to Reflexive Verbs: if we want to make them impersonal, we use ci + si + third person singular of the verb.
The last example shows the impersonal construction si + è + adjective: careful, in this case the adjective is always masculine plural!
Try to make some sentences using the “si spersonalizzante” now!
It will be easier than you thought!