Ciao a tutti!

 

Two weeks ago, continuing with phrases from our episode of Il Commissario Manara on Yabla, I told you what great shape I found you in.

 

Ti trovo proprio in forma!
I find you really in good shape!

 

Adesso, dato che sei in gran forma, I want to tell you just how great that new outfit looks on you.

 

Luca’s sister continues giving him clues that she’s sneaking up behind him. This time she really gives herself away by telling him how great his leather jacket looks on him. She says:

 

Anche questo giubbotto in pelle, bello, ma ti sta proprio, proprio bene.
Even this leather jacket, nice, but it looks really, really good on you.

 

More literally she’s saying:

 

Ti sta proprio bene.
It suits you very well.

 

Here are some more examples:

 

Ti stanno bene i miei vestiti.
My clothes look good on you.

L’ho sempre detto che le strisce ti stanno bene.
I’ve always said that you look good in stripes.

A proposito, ti sta bene quella maglietta.
By the way, that t-shirt really suits you.

Un vestito rosso le sta bene indosso.
A red dress looks good on her.

Ti sta bene quel colore.
That color looks good on you.

Questi pantaloncini non mi stanno molto bene, vero?
These shorts don’t suit me very well, do they?

Mi piacciono queste scarpe. Mi stanno bene.
I like these shoes. They look good on me.

 

Of course, you can also use it in the past tense:

 

Il vestito che indossavi non ti stava bene.
The dress you were wearing didn’t look good on you.

 

So how can you start using this phrase today? Are you going shopping with a friend? Tell her how great that new shirt looks on her:

 

Ti sta proprio bene!
It really suits you!

 

Take a look at yourself in the mirror and remark to yourself on what you’re wearing.

 

Questo giubbotto mi sta proprio bene. Dovrei comprarmene un altro.
This jacket suits me very well. I should buy myself another one.

 

Or maybe you’re trying on shoes and you decide you don’t like them.

 

Non mi stanno molto bene.
They don’t look good on me.

 

Now what do you do if those shoes look good but they don’t FIT?? In that case, you use andare. But, we’ll study that in another post! Best to stick to one context at a time.

Alla prossima!

 

 

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.