How to say “any” in Italian
Even in English, it can be sometimes tricky to use the word “any”. In this lesson, we will see how to use any with the meaning of “no matter which”, and we’ll also learn how to say “anything”, “anywhere” and “anyone”!
- any – qualunque, qualsiasi
- anyone – chiunque
- anything – qualunque/qualsiasi cosa
- anywhere– ovunque /dovunque
“Any” and “anything” in Italian: qualunque and qualsiasi
The words qualunque and qualsiasi mean the same thing and can therefore be used interchangeably with no problem. They only have one form.
Per me va bene qualsiasi film.
Any film is fine for me.
Qualunque vestito va bene.
Any dress will do.
Qualsiasi proposta verrà considerata.
Any proposal will be considered.
When they appear after the noun, they take a slightly pejorative meaning, indicating mediocrity and ordinariness.
un uomo qualunque/ un uomo qualsiasi
an ordinary man (with no special qualities)
As you can see, they are only used with singular nouns. They can be used with a plural noun only if they follow the noun.
Porta dei vestiti qualsiasi.
Bring any kind of clothes.
Ho comprato delle birre qualunque.
I bought some ordinary beers.
To say anything, we simply add the word cosa (thing) after qualunque and qualsiasi.
Farei qualunque cosa per te.
I would do anything for you.
Prima di decidere qualsiasi cosa, voglio vederla.
Before deciding anything I want to see her.
“Anyone” and “anywhere” in Italian
To say anyone, or whoever, we use chiunque.
Lo potrebbe fare chiunque.
Anyone could do it.
Chiunque sia stato, verrà espulso.
Whoever did it will be expelled.
To say anywhere, or wherever, we use ovunque and dovunque. These have the same meaning and can be used interchangeably.
Andrei dovunque pur di non stare qui.
I would go anywhere just not to be here.
Ovunque tu sia, ricordati delle tue radici.
Wherever you are, remember your roots.
The “-unque” words
As you’ve probably noticed, all these words are formed in the same way starting from basic Italian words and adding –unque:
- quale + unque – qualunque
any – whichever - chi + unque – chiunque
anyone – whoever - dove + unque – dovunque
anywhere – wherever
And there is one last word that you will often hear that has the same construction: comunque (anyway)!
- come + unque – comunque
anyway – however
Let’s see how it’s used with a couple of examples:
Comunque vada, sarò orgoglioso di te.
However it goes, I will be proud of you.
Se piove andiamo comunque!
If it rains we’ll go anyway!
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4 Responses
Loved this lesson #181. I was very pleased with the variety of tenses in the many example sentences having noticed present, imperfect, conditional, subjunctive, and past, among them. One essentially learns grammar by osmosis, as advertised. Bravo. Although it does help someone to have some familiarity with such tenses ahead of time, apropos of being an Intermediate course. I’m convinced that Think Italian will accelerate me to a B2 level of fluency quickly.
Ciao @donald-bell!
We’re so glad you’re pleased with the course so far! 😊
Keep on practicing every day.
Sarebbe bene fare dei [o] alcuni exercizi su Quizlet.
Per ora c’è Ripeti con me! 😛