How To Use Italian Word Proprio As Adjective And Adverb | Learn With Lucrezia

Tutorial Transcript

Hi everyone and welcome back to my channel! Today we're going to talk about the word "proprio". Before starting, though, I want to tell you that this video was made in collaboration with iTalki, which is a website that can bring you in contact with tutors, or teachers of italian or of any other language you might be learning. It's a very easy and intuitive website to use, where you can book your grammar or conversation lessons whenever you want, wherever you want and however you want. It's a really flexible system. I'm leaving the link in the description of the video down here, through which you can receive 10 dollars to use for your first lesson. So, "proprio". You sure have heard this word many many times and maybe you've asked yourselves what it means. "Proprio" can be an adjective or an adverb. Let's begin with its function as an adjective: "proprio" can be used as a possessive adjective in impersonal phrases or in phrases where the subject is indeterminate, or in phrases where the subject is a third person singular. Let's see some examples: "One often expresses their own (propria) opinion without thinking." (impersonal phrase) "Everyone is responsible for their own (proprie) actions." (indeterminate subject) "Luca should learn to manage his own (propri) responsibilities." (possessive value, substitutes "suoi" = his, 3rd p. s.) In these examples, "proprio" has a possessive value and, being an adjective, changes according to the number and gender of the noun it accompanies. "Proprio" can also be used as a qualificative adjective, as a synonym of "characteristic". For example: "This is a behavior typical (proprio) of children", that is, a behavior characteristic of children. "The predilection for curved lines is characteristic (propria) of baroque architecture." Therefore, it is characteristic of baroque architecture. These are the uses of "proprio" as an adjective. Let's say that these are very common uses that recur often. We will now see the function of "proprio" as an adverb. "Proprio" can be used as a synonym of "veramente" (= really), "esattamente" (= exactly), "precisamente" (= precisely). Let's see some examples: "It's exactly (proprio) like this!" "It's exactly (proprio) what I wanted to say!" "This painting is really (proprio) expressive." "Do you have to listen to music precisely (proprio) now?" We could rephrase these sentences by saying: "It's exactly (esattamente) like this!" "It's exactly (esattamente) what I wanted to say!" "This painting is really (veramente) expressive." "Do you have to listen to music precisely (precisamente) now, in this moment?" Ok? So, in reality the use of the word "proprio" isn't complicated once you have seen many different examples of it. Obviously, "proprio" is used in many contexts, in many environments maybe more technical, for example in mathematics -proprio/improprio- that we won't see here together, though, because we only need those uses that recur in the language of everyday life. That is all for today. Let me know in the comments down here if you have ever heard this word in Italian or if you think it's easy to use in your conversations! Thank you so much for watching this video, we'll se eachother in the next one. See you, ciao!