farsene

Ok, this phrase is a bit more challenging than some of the others we’ve seen so far. For those of you who want to understand the grammar this will tax you a bit. I’m going to try to give you as literal a translation as possible so that you can grasp what you are saying. Eventually you will not need the translation anymore. In fact, the more you use the phrase, the less you will need to translate it. So make an effort to use it this week!

In our context this week, the verb farsene means to make use of. If we were to translate it literally it might look like this:

farsene
to make (use) (for) oneself of it

So now let’s turn to our phrase from Il Commissario Manara. Luca and Lara have just followed Brigadiere to a pond where they’ve found the body of a woman. Sardi comments on how beautiful the dead woman is. Ginevra, the medical examiner, then says:

Ormai della sua bellezza se ne fa ben poco, purtroppo.
At this point, her beauty matters very little to her, unfortunately.

Or, if we translate using our literal attempt:

Ormai, della sua bellezza se ne fa ben poco, purtroppo.
At this point, of her beauty she makes herself very little (use) of it, unfortunately.

Notice that the literal translation includes a bit of redundancy. But… and this is important… don’t get hung up on the literal translation! This is only so that wondering doesn’t drive you nuts. We don’t speak like this in English and try as you might to make it make sense in English, it won’t work. It’s best just to look at A LOT of examples and say them over and over to yourself as you try to experience the meaning. In that way, it will start to make sense to you. It really is a little like magic.

Most of the time you will see this expression used in questions where it might be translated as to want with (something).

For example:

Che cosa se ne fa di quello?
And what does he want with that?
(What use does he have for that?)

E che me ne faccio di un vestito?
And what do I want with a dress?
(What use do I have for a dress?)

Che me ne faccio di un sassofono?
What am I supposed to do with one saxophone?
(What use is a saxophone to me?)

Cosa se ne fa di quella maschera?
What use is that mask to him?

Che me ne faccio di un altro penny?
Why do I need another penny?
(What use is another penny to me?)

So right now, go pick something up and ask yourself: what do I want with this?

Che me ne faccio di…

Feel free to answer yourself (in Italian of course!)

When not a question, farsene often translates as what to do with it or what to make of it. It is often preceded by sapere which may or may not be translated. Here are some more examples:

Non so cosa farmene di tutto ciò
I don’t know what (use) to make of all this.

Non ho mai davvero saputo che farmene.
I never really knew what to do with it.
(I never really had any use for it.)

Non sapeva che farsene di quell’uomo.
He had no use for that man.

Non saprebbero che farsene di tutto questo.
They wouldn’t know what to do with all this.

There is also a very common idiom in Italian that uses farsene, but it’s meaning is completely idiomatic. It is:

farsene una ragione
to come to terms with it

But we’ll discuss that phrase next week!

How will you use this week’s Italian phrase? Tell us on Facebook!

Note: For those of you who just can’t stand not knowing why it’s ne and not ci – in this phrase you’ll notice that the thing being used is preceded by di.

della sua bellezza
of her beauty

When di is used with a verb (in this case fare) and you want to replace the object with a pronoun, you have to use ne. For a and a host of other prepositions, you use ci.

If you feel your Italian is good enough to watch without Italian (or English) subtitles, this episode of Il Commissario Manara is also available for free from RAI. You will need to fast forward to exactly 48 minutes for the start of Un morto di troppo.

Do you know someone who always has his head in the clouds? Then you will love the latest phrase from our study of Il Commissario Manara on Yabla.

Luca and Lara are about to take off on Luca’s motorcycle but Luca has forgotten il pieno, to fill up the tank. But Luca’s sister Teresa knows why and she says:

Ah, ma guarda, ha sempre avuto la testa tra le nuvole, lui.
Ah, but look, he has always had his head in the clouds, that one.

This one is pretty easy, right? It is, in fact, almost exactly as we say it in English. Here’s the exact literal translation:

avere la testa tra/fra le nuvole
to have the head among/between the clouds

Note the meaning of tra/fra, we’ll come back to that in a bit.

Here are some more examples from Reverso:

Maggie aveva sempre la testa tra le nuvole.
Maggie always had her head in the clouds.

Sì, scusa, ho la testa tra le nuvole.
Yes, excuse me, I have my head in the clouds.

Artù ha la testa fra le nuvole.
Arthur has his head in the clouds.

Mi dispiace, credo di avere la testa tra le nuvole.
I’m sorry, I believe I have my head in the clouds.

Dovete scusare mio fratello, ha la testa tra le nuvole.
You must excuse my brother, he has his head in the clouds.

Quel ragazzo ha la testa fra le nuvole ultimamente.
That kid has his head in the clouds lately.

Non lo so, mi sembra uno con la testa tra le nuvole.

I don’t know, he seems like someone with his head in the clouds.

Sei sempre con la testa tra le nuvole!
You always have your head in the clouds.

So, as always with the Italian language, there is an interesting question here. Should you use tra or fra? According to Google, they are about evenly used with tra coming out ahead by a small margin. Fra seems to roll off the tongue easier for me in this instance, but the characters in Il Commissario Manara seem to prefer testa tra le nuvole.

But is there actually a difference?

Well, even some native Italians aren’t sure, as this discussion from Word Reference indicates. But, for the most part Italians agree, they are perfectly interchangeable. So why are there two? Mainly for purposes of euphony. Italians don’t like too many repeated sounds in the same sentence. Hence, if you need to use tra twice in the same sentence, it sounds better to the Italian ear to switch the second one to fra (or vice versa).

For example, there are a few very phrases that use fra or tra and could end up back to back. Fra poco, for example, means in a little while, or soon. Detto fra noi means just between us, between you and me and the fence post so to speak.

Detto tra noi, fra poco tornerò.
Just between us, in a little while I’ll be back.

Ce l’avrò tra le mani fra poco
I will have it in my hands soon.

Who will you be describing this week when you use your new Italian phrase? Chi ha la testa tra le nuvole? Tell us on Facebook!

If you feel your Italian is good enough to watch without Italian (or English) subtitles, this episode of Il Commissario Manara is also available for free from RAI. You will need to fast forward to exactly 48 minutes for the start of Un morto di troppo.