Italian Word Speed Date: Mica

If I had to choose a few words that I’m asked about all the time in Italian, ones like “proprio” and “magari” would surely be up there, but the one I hear about being difficult constantly is “mica”. In fact, it’s such a difficult word that I was still fuzzy on how to use it as I wrote this lesson. I had to get lots of help from our lovely in-house native Italian editor, Carlotta. Despite that, we’ve done our best to drill “mica” -- a word that’s used informally in everyday spoken conversation -- down to its simplest usages. Buono studio! Definitions: Not at all/not one bit Surely Not even Not in the least By any chance Overall, know that it's used in order to strengthen the negative meaning of a sentence. POPULAR EXPRESSION #1: Mica Male “Mica male” can best be translated as “not bad”, as in: Questo gelato non è mica male! - This gelato is not bad at all! (in the sense of, “this gelato is quite good”.) Mica male quella ragazza! - Look at that girl, not bad, right? Mica male questo libro. - This book isn't bad at all. POPULAR EXPRESSION #2: Mica tanto “Mica tanto” can best be used to mean “not really” or “not much”. A: Ti è piaciuto il film “Superman vs. Batman”? - Did you like the movie “Superman vs. Batman”? B: Mica tanto! - Not really! Mica costano poi (così) tanto/Non costano mica tanto, prendile! - They are not that expensive after all./ They are not that expensive, go and get them! DEFINITION: Not at all/not one bit Non sembri mica interessato/a. - You don’t seem interested at all. Non è mica vero. - It’s not true at all! Non ha mica capito. - He didn’t understand at all. DEFINITION: By chance/happen to Hai mica visto la mia borsa? - Have you by chance seen my purse? Hai mica una penna? - Do you happen to have a pen? Non sai mica dov’è? / Mica sai dov’è? - You don't happen to know where he is, do you? Non sei mica la sorellina di Giulia?/Mica sei la sorellina di Giulia? - You wouldn’t happen to be Giulia’s little sister? DEFINITION: Surely Non glielo dico mica, stai tranquilla! - I’m surely not going to tell him, don’t worry! Se lui è là, io mica vado alla festa. - If he is there, I am surely not going to the party. DEFINITION: It’s not like... Mica ci vuole un'ora per bere una tazza di caffè. - It's not like it takes an hour to drink a cup of coffee. Mica sono scemo! - It’s not like I’m stupid. Non sono mica nato/a ieri! - It’s not like I was born yesterday!   30% off Quizlet Plus Membership Go to: https://quizlet.com/content/iceberg Access special features like Cher's favorite, Long-Term Learning. With Quizlet Plus, you'll also have offline access for studying Italian on the go; Night Theme, for studying late at night; enhanced audio, so you can record yourself speaking Italian; and more.   Additional resources at... http://icebergproject.co/italian   Like the podcast? Leave a review in Apple Podcasts! If you like the podcast, I would appreciate it a TON if you left a review. You can hit a star rating in your Podcasts app on your iPhone or go to the iTunes store and click Leave a Review on the show page. Special thanks to 4barrelcarb on freesound.org for the ad music.