What does “Come?” mean in Italian?
Motor Trend cambia nome e diventa Turbo
A2 Italian listening practice · Standard Italian · Picked for people who know a little
This channel promo plays a little joke: “Il canale si chiamerà Turbo. Come? Turbo. Come?” On its own, Come? is how Italians say “Sorry, what?” or “Pardon?”, asking you to repeat something. Literally come means “how,” but a standalone Come? is the everyday “I didn’t catch that.”
It’s a small word that makes you sound natural the moment you use it. A few registers to know: Come? is casual, Come, scusa? is friendlier, and Prego? is politely formal. Don’t reach for Cosa? (“What?”) to mean “pardon”, Italians use Come? for that. One syllable, and you can keep any conversation going.
How common are the words?
How common are the words in this A2 Italian listening practice video?
How common in written Italian
How common in spoken Italian
Harder words in this video
These words are harder than A2. Here is what they mean.
Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · OpenSubtitles 2018 (HermitDave) (spoken). These numbers are close, not perfect.
- ▸Any time an Italian misses what you said
- ▸On the phone, asking someone to repeat
- ▸In noisy bars and markets across Italy
- ▸Alongside politer versions Come, scusa? and Prego?
- ▸In Italian TV and ads playing on a catchy name