Ogni
In today’s short lesson, we’re going to learn how to use ogni.
You probably heard this word many times and are familiar with it. It has different meanings so it’s ok if you don’t get it right every time.
Ogni is a very common and versatile word. It might mean: “each”, “all”, and “every”.
You’ll probably figure out what exactly it means from the context.
Let’s have a look at three different examples:
Ogni persona deve presentare questo documento.
Each person has to hand in this document.
Il treno passa ogni mezz’ora.
The train comes past every half hour.
C’era gente di ogni tipo.
There were all sorts of people.
Ogni: each
The difference between “each”, “all”, and “every” is very subtle in English. The good thing about Italian is that you can use ogni to mean all of them.
We can translate ogni as “each” when we are referring to every one of two or more people or things, identified separately.
In some cases, you’ll be tempted to translate it as “every” and it’s ok.
In any case, don’t focus too much on English but try to start thinking in Italian and it’ll be easier to understand how this language works.
Here are some examples:
Ogni suo film è un capolavoro.
Each of his movies is a masterpiece.
Ho letto ogni pagina del libro.
I read each of the pages of the book.
Vado da lei ogni giorno.
I go to hers each day.
Ogni: all and every
The difference between these two words is even more subtle. But let’s focus on Italian. Just try to think that ogni might refer to every member of a set without exceptions.
Let’s have a look at some examples:
Mi sveglio alle 7 ogni mattina.
I wake up at 7 am every morning.
Ogni volta che parliamo, litighiamo.
Every time that we talk, we argue.
Vendono ogni sorta di libri.
They sell all kinds of books.
Practice with Quizlet
Here's a set of flashcards and quizzes to practice this grammar topic.Ogni: common expressions
There are also some common expressions that go together with ogni.
Here are some of them:
- ogni cosa: everything
- in ogni caso: in any case
- in ogni modo: anyway, anyhow
- da ogni parte: from everywhere
- ogni tanto: every so often, every now and then
- ogni volta (che): every time (that), whenever
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