Andiamo! If you ever go to Italy, you may often hear this interjection – especially in the North. It is mostly used as a sort of exhortation, but what does it mean?
This Italian word is a verb that can also be used to translate two very common English exclamations.
When studying a language, it’s important to know all the popular expressions and idioms. So, here are all the meanings of andiamo!
We Go, Let’s Go & Come On: the meaning of andiamo
If you took our Italian courses, you might have already recognized that andiamo is the present simple of a 1st-conjugation verb. More precisely, it is the first person plural of the verb andare, which means “to go“.
However, when it is used as an imperative, its meaning switches to “let’s go!”.
Let’s make an example:
Ogni giorno io e il mio cane andiamo al parco alle 8:00 di sera.
Me and my dog go to the park every day at 8:00 pm.
Ok, è tutto pronto. Andiamo!
Ok, everything’s ready. Let’s go!
Sometimes people also use andiamo as an exclamation of joy when something unexpectedly good happens. In these cases, it is usually preceded by the conjunction e and can be translated as “come on!“.
Campioni del Mondo… E ANDIAMO!!!
Champions of the World… COME ON!
Basically, you can use andiamo whenever you would say “come on” in English.
For example, you can use it:
- To tell someone to hurry up;
- To encourage someone;
- To express disbelief;
- To provoke someone;
Andiamo! Faremo tardi al cinema!
Come on! We’ll be late for the movie!
Andiamo, ce la puoi fare!
Come on; you can make it!
Ma andiamo! Ti sembra possibile una cosa del genere?
Oh, come on! Do you think something like that could really happen?
Andiamo, fammi vedere quello che sai fare!
Come on, show me what you’ve got!
Let’s go!
Italian may sound difficult, but we believe you can learn it easily through listening, mimicking, and assimilating idioms and slang.
That’s why we dedicate so many articles to Italian words and culture.
If you want to take your knowledge of this beautiful language to the next level, check out the related sections of our blog and our free Italian lessons.
And if you really want to get serious, see our premium Italian courses as well. Andiamo!
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One Response
I’ve always wondered what “Andiamo” means! Thanks for sharing this interesting information!