Lesson 194: Understanding verbs -- visitare v. andare/ venire a

Lesson 194: Understanding verbs -- visitare v. andare/
venire a trovare + qualcuno
One of the most common "mistakes" that speakers of Italian
make is confusing the usage of visitare and the verb expression,
andare/venire a trovare qualcuno.
In Italian, visitare means to visit but in specific circumstances
and contexts. Be careful when using it to describe visiting
people, because it gives the impression of a visit to or by your
doctor and generally means to examine or to see -- if you say
that you're going to visit Maria and use visitare (while you'll
probably be understood), it gives the impression that Maria is
your doctor and is giving you a check-up -- see the examples
below:
Oggi mio nonno ha preso un appuntamento dal medico.
Vuole esserevisitato dato che non sta molto bene.
Today my grandfather made an appointment at the
doctor's. He wants to be examined since he is not feeling
well.
But, you can use visitare to mean to visit when you talk about
going to cities, towns, museums, attractions, etc:
Quando sei andato a Roma, hai visitato molti musei
interessanti?
When you went to Rome, did you visit many interesting
museums?
all rights reserved -- this pdf is for personal use only
it may not be transmitted or uploaded elsewhere without prior permission
no commercial use without license or permission from the author
licensing/permission, please contact: [email protected]
When visiting cities and towns, omit the preposition, a, with
the verb, visitare (visitare is a transitive verb -- nouns that
follow it receive the action of the verb, hence not using the
preposition, a):
Sono andato a Londra e ad Amsterdam. Hai mai visitato
Londra? È bellissima!
I went to London and Amsterdam? Did you ever visit
London? It's very beautiful!
When talking about visiting people, use andare/venire a
trovare qualcuno, which literally means "to go/to come to find
someone". However, the usage between the two differs:
1. When you're speaking to the person to whom you are
visiting (or plan to visit or have visited, etc.), you use
venire a trovare
2. When you're talking about visiting someone, and you are not
addressing the person to whom you plan to visit directly, use
andare a trovare.
Note the placement of the object pronoun -- it generally
attaches to the infinitive, trovare. Let's look at some
examples:
Marta: Ho parlato con Luigi! È molto ansioso!
Marta: I spoke with Luigi. He's very anxious!
all rights reserved -- this pdf is for personal use only
it may not be transmitted or uploaded elsewhere without prior permission
no commercial use without license or permission from the author
licensing/permission, please contact: [email protected]
Roberto: La madre di Luigi va a trovarlo presto?
Robert: Luigi's mom is visiting him soon?
Marta: Che fai questa estate?
Marta: What are you doing this summer?
Roberto: Vado a trovare Luigi. Passa un'estate a
Barcelona, e mi ha invitato a passare l'estate con lui.
Roberto: I'm going to visit Luigi. He's spending a summer
in Barcelona, and he invited me to spend the summer with
him.
Marta: Dov'è andato Marco?
Marta: Where did Marco go?
Roberto: Marco è andato a trovare Luisa. Ha deciso di
andare perché non è mai stato a Palermo.
Roberto: Marco visited Luisa. He decided to go because he
has never been to Palermo.
Marta: Non ci vediamo più.
Marta: We do not see each other any more.
Roberto: Vieni a trovarmi! Mi manchi!
all rights reserved -- this pdf is for personal use only
it may not be transmitted or uploaded elsewhere without prior permission
no commercial use without license or permission from the author
licensing/permission, please contact: [email protected]
Roberto: Visit me! I miss you!
all rights reserved -- this pdf is for personal use only
it may not be transmitted or uploaded elsewhere without prior permission
no commercial use without license or permission from the author
licensing/permission, please contact: [email protected]