Learn common Italian verbs

Hi, everybody! I'm Luca and this is an Italian language lesson.

More specifically, this video lesson is designed for those who understand Italian, but would like to improve their Italian.

If you are one of these people, you might want to subscribe to my channel, because here I regularly upload lessons about various topics related to the Italian language and grammar.

That being said, in this video I wanted to talk a very, very unusual verb that essentialy has two opposite meanings.

Or rather, this verb has a standard meaning, but in some cases it means the opposite of what it normally means.

The Italian verb I'm taling about is TIRARE.

"Tirare" usually means the opposite of "spingere". "Spingere" is performing this action, that is: pushing something away from yourself, whereas "tirare" is pulling something closer.

As a matter of fact, on doors you can read "spingere" (on one side) and "tirare" (on the other). This is because doors open either in this direction, or in the opposite direction.

So, before opening a door, if you read "spingere", it means that that door opens like this, i.e. you have to push it away from yourself. By contrast, if the notice reads "tirare", it means that you should pull the door closer.

So far so good.

Basically, "tirare" is the opposite of "spingere".

The problem is that, in some cases, "tirare" means exactly the opposite.

For instance, let's consider the phrase "tirare un sasso". What does "tirare un sasso" mean? It means throwing a stone. That is: grabbing a rock and putting it in motion, throwing it in the distance.

As you see, in this case "tirare" conveys a meaning that is opposite to its typical meaning.

For example, I can say "Il bambino ha tirato un sasso contro la finestra". What does it mean? That this kid grabbed a rock and then threw it against the window, which quite possibly got broken.

Similarly, I can say, for instance, "tirare un pomodoro". What does "tirare un pomodoro" mean? It means grabbing a tomato and throwing it. You know, right? Back in the day, in case of a bad performance, theather audience was used to grab fruits and throw them against the performers.

Anyway, in place of "sasso" and "pomodoro" I could use other nouns. That is: I could say "tirare" and then specify a different object.

Then we have phrases such as "Tirare un pugno". What does "tirare un pugno" mean? "Tirare un pugno" means throwing a punch.

This is called "pugno". This is an open hand, and this is a fist. "Tirare un pugno" essentially means hitting with your fist.

So "tirare un pugno" means hitting with your hand closed, while "tirare uno schiaffo" means hitting with your hand open. Then, you can say "tirare un calcio", which means hitting with your foot. You can also say "tirare una ginocchiata", which means hitting with your knee. "Tirare una gomitata" means hitting with your elbow.

You see? All these phrases are quite similar.

I understand that these phrases quite possibly come across as a bit odd. Because "tirare" typically means pulling something closer. In these phrases, "tirare" suggests the opposite. That is: pushing something away, putting an object in motion, or doing the same with a body part, in order to hit somebody.

Because "tirare un sasso" essentially means throwing a rock. By contrast, "tirare un pugno" means hitting somebody with this body part. In a non-literal way, it is as if we "threw" (so to speak) this body part while putting it in motion. In any case, the meaning is closer to pushing away rather than pulling closer.

Another thing I wanted to tell you is that we also have the pronominal verb "tirarsela". That is: "tirare" plus pronoun "sela": "me la tiro", "te la tiri", "se la tira", ecc.

Please keep in mind that I'm talking about the verb "tirarsela" and not about the verb "tirare".

"Tirarsela" essentialy has the same meaning of "menarsela". You may not be familiar with the pronominal verb "menarsela". Don't worry, because a while ago I made a video about this verb. Or rather, I made a video about pronominal forms of the verb "menare", including the pronominal verb "menarsela". Here you'll find a card to it. Please check it out, if you want to understand what "tirarsela" means.

One could also say that "tirare" is in fact one of those complex verbs that are used in many, many, idiomatic phrases.

In this video I don't want to talk about Italian idioms with the verb "tirare", because there are way too many. In the future, I may make a series of videos about idiomatic phrases with the verb "tirare".

Just to make it clear, as for the sheer number of idioms, the verb "tirare" is comparable to the verb "mettere". There is indeed a wide variety of idiomatic phrases with the verb "tirare". The verb "mettere" has probably more, yet we have many, many idioms with the verb "tirare".

By the way, some time ago I created a playlist in which I grouped all videos that I made about various idiomatic expressions with the verb "mettere". Here you can find a card to this playlist. Check it out!

(Channel outro)