Italian word of the day: ‘Fatto’

As a noun, fatto means what it sounds like: “fact”.But that's far from the only, or even the most common way to use this word.

 

It's also an adjective and a past participle, as well as part of lots of idiomatic expressions. So you'll have to listen closely to understand which fatto Italian speakers are using.

 

It's the past participle of the verb fare, whch means “to do”, but can also mean to have, build, make,  cook, and various ther verbs.– ha fatto la mia felicità

You might see it in the common phrase fatto a mano (hand-made) or fatto in casa (home-made.)

It's very often used figuratively, which can be harder for non-Italians to work out.

– sono fatto così

– that's how I am/I'm like that

– è ben fatta

– she has a nice figure

– a giorno fatto

– in broad daylight

– è completamente fatto

– he's completely drunk/stoned (literally: “he's done”)

– è fatta! 

– that's it!/I've done it!

And when just used by itself, fatto simply means “done!”