Use of Impersonal to talk about yourself

Hi,

Can you help me with a feature of spoken Italian please? I listen to quite a lot of street interviews with Italians. Sometimes I see Italians use the ‘Si Impersonale’ to talk about what they are doing themselves, not what people do in general. One example from the current video I am watching is a student talking about her morning routine. She says:

“Si esce e si va in università”

The translation on the screen is: “I leave and go to college”

Is this a normal trait of spoken Italian to use the impersonal to talk about yourself rather than what people do in general? Also, are there any particular circumstances where I could use the Si Impersonale to talk about what I do, rather than talk generally about what ‘people do’.

Thanks!

Hi David,

Yes, what you've observed is indeed a feature of spoken Italian, and it's known as the "Si Impersonale" or "Si Passivante." In this context, Italians use the impersonal form to talk about their own actions instead of using the first person.

For example:

• - Standard (first person): "Esco e vado all'università" (I leave and go to the university).
• - Impersonal: "Si esce e si va all'università" (One leaves and goes to the university).

This usage is common in informal spoken Italian. It's a way of expressing actions without explicitly stating who is performing them. It can make the speech sound more general or less direct.

You can use the "Si Impersonale" when you want to describe general activities or routines without specifying the subject. It's not limited to speaking about yourself; you might hear it used in various contexts, especially in casual conversation or narratives.

So, you could use it to talk about your own actions, but it's also applicable in a broader sense to describe actions in general without specifying the doer. It adds a level of generality or informality to the language.

I hope this information will be of help for you. 

Best regards,

Enxhi

Hi Enxhi,

Thanks so much for your clear explanation. It's good to know it's just a style of informal speech. I might try it myself here and there!

I wasn't able to find any information of this feature on the internet, so your help was so useful.

David.

Can you share how you access the street interviews?  Sounds like it would be really helpful, especially since the translation is provided.   Thanks!

Hi Susan,

I don't access street interviews on Rocket Italian. 

I use a Youtube channel called “Easy Italian”. If you go to their playlists, they have one called “Street Interviews in Italian”.

They interview native speakers on a number of topics. On the video screen you can see both the Italian and English subtitles.

Hope this helps.

Thank you!