Persino (hear it pronounced here) is one of those words I find myself looking up again and again, seemingly unable to make it stick.
It doesn't help that it also goes by an alias: perfino, which means exactly the same thing – 'even'.
Despite my blind spot, the two are actually quite straightforward. You say perfino or persino when you want to highlight something unexpected or unlikely.
Ha girato mezzo mondo ed è stata perfino al Polo Nord.
She's travelled half the world and has even been to the North Pole.
Persino sua moglie non è d’accordo.
Even his wife doesn't agree.
They're essentially words to add emphasis, a bit like addirittura. We use 'even' in pretty much the same way in English.
Perfino un bambino lo saprebbe fare.
Even a child could do it.
Perhaps what throws me off is the fino part, which usually means 'until' or 'up to'. But – and here's what I really should memorise – fino can also be an emphatic 'even'.
It's more unusual, but you sometimes see it used this way with troppo ('too much') to imply that something's happened 'far too much' or 'all too well'. NB: you drop the final 'o' in this construction, just because it sounds better.
Sono stato fin troppo buono con te.
I've been far too good to you.
The parts of the puzzle all start coming together when you learn that sino is another word for fino, albeit a less common one.
So perfino or persino, which to go for? That's entirely up to you: the two really are interchangeable, though my repeated Google searches turn up more results for persino than perfino.
Un giorno ce la farò persino io!
One day even I will make it!
Do you have a favourite Italian word you'd like us to feature? If so, please email us with your suggestion.
Make sure you don't miss any of our Italian words and expressions of the day by downloading our new app (available on Apple and Android) and then selecting the Italian Word of the Day in your Notification options via the User button.
Comments