I primi 7 verbi fondamentali in italiano

What does “prendere” mean when you order in Italian?

Prendere mostly means “to take” — you take the lift, take a pill, take a slice of cake. But when you sit down at a bar or a restaurant, the same verb is how you order. “Prendo un caffè” is not “I take a coffee” but “I’ll have a coffee,” and “cosa prendi?” is the waiter or friend asking “what are you having?” Reach for prendere whenever food or drink is on the table.

In the clip Matteo and Katie use it exactly this way around lunch: “Per esempio, prendo la carbonara” (I’ll have the carbonara), followed by “io prendo una pizza invece” and “che dolce prendiamo?” (what dessert shall we get?). The same verb covers plain “take”: “prendi una fetta di torta” (have a slice of cake), “prendo la medicina,” “prendete l’ascensore.” Prendere comes from Latin prehendere, “to grasp or seize” — so the core idea is reaching out and taking something, which stretches naturally to “having” a coffee or “getting” a gelato. Forms: io prendo, tu prendi, lui/lei prende, noi prendiamo, voi prendete, loro prendono.