“To be Used to” in Italian
Essere Abituato
As simple as it is, the English expression “to be used to…” in Italian is essere abituato / abituata. As you can see, I used an asterisk at the end of the verb, because that changes depending on the gender and the number of the subject.
In fact, grammatically speaking, since the auxiliary verb is essere, the past participle abituato must agree with the subject. Remember that the past participle basically behaves as an adjective in this type of context!
Therefore, we can have four forms:
| Masculine | Feminine | |
|---|---|---|
| Singular | abituato | abituata |
| Plural | abituati | abituate |
Have a look at the examples below:
Anna è abituata al freddo.
Anna is used to the cold.
Io sono abituata a mangiare tardi.
I’m used to eating late.
Loro sono abituate a questi paesaggi.
They are used to these landscapes.
Luca è abituato aparlare in pubblico.
Luca is used to speaking in public.
The Preposition “a”
Where in English we have the preposition “to”, in Italian we have the preposition a. This is mandatory in order for the expression to make sense.
Remember that whenever this proposition is followed by a definite article, you must combine them together into a preposizione articolata. This might result in:
| Preposition | + il | + lo | + l’ | + la | + i | + gli | + le |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| A | al | allo | all’ | alla | ai | agli | alle |
La mia amica è abituata ai tacchi alti.
My friend is used to high heels.
Emanuele è abituato agli spettacoli serali.
Emanuele is used to night shows
Elena e Michele sono abituati al Messico.
Elena and Michele are used to Mexico.
Loro sono abituate alle persone strane.
They are used to strange people.
Verbs
You can also be used to doing something in Italian. To express this, you must use the infinitive tense of the verb.
Io sono abituato a bere il latte caldo.
I’m used to drinking hot milk.
Beatrice è abituata a correre per ore.
Beatrice is used to running for hours.
The Pronoun “ci”
Sometimes, if you do not want to repeat what you are used to, you can use the pronoun ci, which is aimed at substituting for the entire phrase.
Let me explain it better with an example:
Have a look at the examples below:
Non ti da fastidio la pioggia?
Doesn’t the rain bother you?
No, sono abituato alla pioggia.
No, I am used to the rain.
Non ti da fastidio la pioggia?
Doesn’t the rain bother you?
No, ci sono abituato.
No, I am used to it.
Come fai a mangiare cosi presto?
How can you eat so early?
Non saprei, ci sono abituata.
I am not sure, I am used to it.
