How to Use Proprio in Italian

Proprio - similar to Ci and Ne - is one of those words you learn how to use simply after seeing it in action in several different contexts. It’s one of those words that you just get the feel for over time.

I’ve put together a couple of phrases that I hope will help you on your quest to master this pesky little word that you’ll soon come to love and use yourself when speaking Italian.

To watch the YouTube video that corresponds to this blog post, click here.

For emphasis, I’ll be writing PROPRIO all in caps.

Here’s how you can use PROPRIO like JUST (one of the more common usages)

  1. Tu sei PROPRIO come tuo padre!

    1. You are JUST like your father!

    2. You are EXACTLY like your father!

    3. You are SO like your father!

  2. Tu sei PROPRIO tale e quale a tua madre!

    1. You are JUST a spitting image of your mother!

  3. Questo è PROPRIO quello che volevo!

    1. This is JUST what I wanted!

  4. Si dice PROPRIO così.

    1. You say it JUST like this.

  5. Non mi piace PROPRIO

    1. I JUST don’t like it

    2. I don’t like it AT ALL

Here’s how you can use PROPRIO like REALLY:

  1. L’hai fatto PROPRIO bene, bravo!

    1. You did it REALLY well, great job!

    2. You did it SO well, great job!

  2. Non è PROPRIO così

    1. It’s not REALLY like that/this

    2. It’s JUST not like that/this

  3. Mi piace PROPRIO tanto

    1. I REALLY love it a lot!

    2. I REALLY just love it!!

  4. Vorrei andare in Italia PROPRIO adesso!

    1. I want to go to Italy JUST/RIGHT now!

  5. Vorrei PROPRIO andare in Italia

    1. I REALLY JUST want to go to Italy.

Here’s how you can use PROPRIO like ONE’S OWN:

  1. Bisogna pensare alla PROPRIA famiglia

    1. One needs to think of ONE’S OWN family

  2. Ognuno dovrebbe pensare alla PROPRIA salute

    1. Everyone should think of ONE’S OWN health

  3. Lavoro in PROPRIO

    1. I work for myself/on my own

  4. Questa è la mia PROPRIA attività

    1. This is my OWN business

Thank you for reading this blog post! I hope you found it helpful!

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