Once you get your tongue round the mouthful of vowels, cioè (pronounced "cho-eh") can come in very handy.
It's a contraction of ciò (this/that) and è (is), and it means "that is to say", "i.e.", "namely". It's a way to follow up on something you've just said and make it clearer or give more details.
Sono arrivato il 13, cioè domenica.
I arrived on the 13th, that is, Sunday.
Nel gioco del cricket mia figlia è un bowler, cioè lancia la palla.
In cricket my daughter is a bowler, i.e., she throws the ball.
Mi mancano ancora alcuni mobili, cioè: un tavolo, due sedie, un comodino.
I'm still missing some pieces of furniture, namely a table, two chairs, a bedside cabinet.
And when someone else hasn't been quite as clear as you'd like, you can turn cioè into a question to request an explanation.
– Vengo tra poco.
– Cioè?
– I'll come soon.
– Which means...?
You can also use cioè to correct yourself mid-sentence – a bit like saying "or rather" or "I mean..." after a slip of the tongue. When it's used this way you might hear people adding sì or no afterwards for extra emphasis.
Fai venire qui Luigi - Mario cioè.
Get Luigi, I mean Mario, to come here.
Questo è il mio, cioè no, il tuo!
This one's mine, or rather, yours!
Non posso venire, cioè sì, mi basta saperlo per tempo.
I can't come, or rather, I can, I just have to know in good time.
But even when you're not quite sure what you mean, cioè's the word for you. Nowadays you'll hear it used as a filler, a pausing word you can grab while you look for a better phrase. In fact for some Italian speakers, cioè has become a bit of a verbal tic – just like the word "like" in English.
Sì, cioè...
Yes, well, you know...
Cioè, è bello, vero?
Like, it's nice, isn't it?
And just like "like", cioè is beloved by teenage girls – so much so that there's a teen magazine named after it. Like, cool!
The latest edition of Cioè.
Do you have a favourite Italian word, phrase or expression you'd like us to feature? If so, please email our editor Jessica Phelan with your suggestion.
