How to say “with” and “without”: Italian grammar lesson 14

Start here

You’ll receive my free resources together with my best offers! Opt out at any time.

Create a free lifetime account to get access to all the free lesson and other resources.

I’ll take you to your shiny new student dashboard.

How to say “with” in Italian

In today’s short lesson, you’re going to learn how to say “with” in Italian.

It’s easy to remember since it only has 3 letters: “con”.

Like in English, we use this word when we want to talk about something or someone being accompanied by something or someone else.

Con: examples

Let’s have a look at some examples:

Vai a casa con tua sorella?

Are you going home with your sister?

Vieni con i tuoi genitori stasera?

Are you coming with your parents tonight?

Mi piace parlare con te.

I like talking with you.

Lei scrive sempre con la mano destra.

She always writes with her right hand.

Mangio un panino con il formaggio.

I’m eating a sandwich with cheese.

How to say with Italian

Col, coi

You might also hear the abbreviated versions of “con + il”, and “con + i”:

  • con + il: col
  • con + i: coi

Both options are correct. Sometimes, it’s just easier to say the shortened versions.

Have a look at the examples below:

Vado a casa col cane.

I’m going home with the dog.

Luigi vive ancora coi genitori.

Luigi still lives with his parents.

With in Italian

How to say “without” in Italian

In Italian, if we want to say “without”, we say senza. We recommend checking its pronunciation by just clicking on the word.

Unlike con, senza cannot be abbreviated.

Like in English, we use senza in Italian to indicate the absence or lack of something.

Interestingly, this word seems to come from the combination of the Latin words absentia (absence) and sine (without).

If you remember this, it might be easier for you to remember the word senza.

How to say without Italian

Senza: examples

Let’s now look at some examples with senza:

È uscito senza ombrello.

He went out without an umbrella.

Non so cosa farei senza il suo aiuto.

I don’t know what I’d do without his help.

Non senza alcune riserve.

Not without some reservations.

Cosa farei senza di te?

What would I do without you?

Non posso stare senza di lei.

I can’t live without her.

Siamo rimasti senza zucchero.

We’ve run out of sugar. (Literally: We’re left without sugar.)

What does senza mean in Italian

With and without in Italian: key points

“With” is easy to remember, since it has just three letters: “con”.

Free Guide
How to Learn Languages Fast

We use this word when we want to talk about something or someone being accompanied by something or someone else.

If you want to make it even easier to say, you can use the abbreviated versions: col and coi.

If we want to talk about “without”, we’ll use the word “senza“.

Unlike “con“, “senza” cannot be abbreviated and we use it to indicate the absence or lack of something.

Still translating in your head? Wanna speak Italian for real? Check out Stefano's courses to think directly in Italian and become fluent fast!

FAQs on How to say “with” and “without”: Italian grammar lesson 14

Stefano

Italian language tutor, course author, and polyglot. After learning 12 languages, I can tell you that we all master languages by listening and mimicking. With my method, you'll be speaking Italian from Lesson 1.

Follow me to fluency​

Receive my free resources once a week together with my best offers! 

Create a free lifetime account to get access to all the free lesson and other resources.

I’ll take you to your shiny new student dashboard.

4 Responses

Leave a Reply

Share:

Still translating in your head?

Wanna speak Italian for real? Check out Stefano’s courses to think directly in Italian and become fluent fast!
[mwai_chatbot_v2 id="support"]
Try my courses
for free​
ripeti con me mockup sm

Let me show you around

How long to fluency?

Find out how long it will take you to master Italian!
Get on the right track in 3 minutes.

dolce vita logo

We're already friends!

Coming from Luca and Marina?
Here's a special deal for you!
Just tell me where I should send the coupon.

50% OFF
all language resources

We're already friends!

Coming from All Language Resources?
Here's a special deal for you!
Just tell me where I should send the coupon.

50% OFF
GRAB A COUPON NOW, REDEEM IT LATER
50% OFF

To receive free resources once a week together with my best offers, just tell me where to send everything. Opt out at any time.

Create a free lifetime account to get access to all the free lesson and other resources.

I’ll take you to your shiny new student dashboard.