How to say “but”: Italian grammar lesson 42

What is ma in Italian?

We’re going to learn how to say but in Italian. It’s just a two-letter word: ma.

Like in English, we use the equivalent of but to introduce an idea that contrasts with what we just said. This means we place it right before the second idea in the sentence.

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Pay attention to the two ideas in each sentence and how they’re linked by ma.

Lei vuole uscire ma io voglio stare a casa.

She wants to go out, but I want to stay home.

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Il professore ha spiegato l’esercizio ma io non ho capito.

The teacher explained the exercise, but I didn’t understand.

But: examples

Let’s have a look at some more examples:

How to use però?

There’s also another option for saying but. It’s a bit longer,  slightly less common, and is used differently: però .

This word is more flexible than ma. Because while ma can only go right before the second phrase (in other words, in between the two phrases), però can also go at the end of a sentence.

It’s a bit like that in English.

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Look at the two possible options for each group of sentences:

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