Emergency

1. Aiuto!

   Help!

   Usage

   Shout for help in an emergency

   Grammar Note

   The noun "aiuto" (help) used exclamatorily. "Soccorso!" is another emergency cry

2. Chiami un'ambulanza, per favore

   Please call an ambulance

   Usage

   Request an ambulance in a medical emergency

   Grammar Note

   "Chiami" is the formal imperative. Italy's emergency number is 118. "Un'" elides "una"

3. Sono stato / stata derubato / derubata

   I was robbed

   Usage

   Report theft to the police

   Grammar Note

   Italian passive: essere + past participle. Endings change by gender (-o masculine, -a feminine)

4. Ho bisogno di un medico

   I need a doctor

   Usage

   Use when sick or injured and needing medical attention

   Grammar Note

   "Avere bisogno di" is an idiom for needing something. Medico (male) / medica (female doctor)

5. Dov'è l'ospedale più vicino?

   Where is the nearest hospital?

   Usage

   Find the nearest hospital in an emergency

   Grammar Note

   "L'ospedale" elides "lo" before a vowel. "Vicino" means near/close

6. Chiami il 112, per favore

   Please call 112

   Usage

   Ask someone to call Italy's universal emergency number

   Grammar Note

   112 is the EU-wide emergency number. Italy also has: 113 (police), 115 (fire), 118 (ambulance)

7. Ho perso il passaporto

   I have lost my passport

   Usage

   Report a lost passport to the police or embassy

   Grammar Note

   "Ho perso" is the present perfect of perdere (to lose): ho (have) + perso (past participle)

8. Ho un dolore al petto

   I have a pain in my chest

   Usage

   Describe chest pain to medical staff — a critical emergency phrase

   Grammar Note

   "Al" = a + il (at + masculine article). "Petto" (chest) and "dolore" (pain) are both masculine

9. Sono allergico / allergica alla penicillina

   I am allergic to penicillin

   Usage

   Inform medical staff about a penicillin allergy

   Grammar Note

   Match allergico (masc) or allergica (fem) to your gender. "Alla" = a + la (to + feminine article)

10. Ho bisogno di un interprete

    I need an interpreter

    Usage

    Request an interpreter at a police station or hospital when communication is difficult

    Grammar Note

    "Avere bisogno di" is an Italian idiom for needing something — literally "to have need of"

11. La smetta!

    Stop it!

    Usage

    Hold this up to shut down persistent touts or scammers without raising your voice

12. Non mi tocchi!

    Do not touch me!

    Usage

    Show this to refuse unwanted physical contact; the polite "Lei" form, but the message is firm

13. Polizia!

    Police!

    Usage

    One word to call for the police or to signal you want them called; the emergency number is 112

14. L'incendio

    Fire

    Usage

    The word for a blaze in a building or woodland; Italy's fire brigade number is 115

15. Il ladro

    Thief

    Usage

    The person who stole; the feminine form is "la ladra"

16. La rapina

    Robbery

    Usage

    Taking by violence or threat — the offence named in art. 628 of the penal code; theft without violence is "il furto"

17. Lo scippo

    Snatching

    Usage

    Use when a bag is torn from you in the street; the penal code (art. 624-bis) calls it "furto con strappo"

18. Il borseggiatore

    Pickpocket

    Usage

    Someone who lifts wallets in a crowd; feminine "la borseggiatrice", the act itself is "il borseggio"

19. Il rapimento

    Kidnapping

    Usage

    The everyday word for carrying a person off; the penal code calls the offence "sequestro di persona" (art. 605)

20. L'omicidio

    Murder

    Usage

    The offence of taking a human life, named in art. 575 of the penal code; the killer is "l'omicida"

21. La sommossa

    Riot

    Usage

    Tells someone a crowd has turned violent; an uprising aimed at the state is "la rivolta"

22. La bomba

    Bomb

    Usage

    Show this to report a suspicious package or an explosive device

23. C'è un incendio! Scappi!

    Fire! Run!

    Usage

    Shout to warn people there is a fire and to get them to run

    Grammar Note

    The existential "C'è un…" followed by "incendio" (fire). "Scappare" means to flee to avoid a danger, and "Scappi" is its "Lei" imperative

24. Al ladro! Lo fermi!

    Thief! Catch him!

    Usage

    Shout to alert bystanders and get them to stop a thief who is running away

    Grammar Note

    "Al ladro!" is the cry raised to draw attention to a fleeing thief. "Fermare" means to make something stop, and "Lo fermi" is a "Lei" imperative with the object pronoun "lo" placed before it

25. Chiami i pompieri, per favore

    Please call the fire brigade

    Usage

    Ask someone to call the fire brigade for a fire or a rescue; Italy's fire number is 115

    Grammar Note

    "Chiami" is the "Lei" imperative of "chiamare" (to call). Italian calls for the firefighters rather than the vehicle; the word for the engine itself is "l'autopompa"

26. Dov'è il commissariato di polizia?

    Where is the police station?

    Usage

    Use to find the nearest police station, for example to report a crime

    Grammar Note

    "Commissariato" is the station as a building (formally "Commissariato di Pubblica Sicurezza", now "della Polizia di Stato"); the institution itself is "la polizia"

27. Vorrei sporgere denuncia di furto

    I want to report a theft

    Usage

    Use at a police station to file the theft report an insurance claim needs

    Grammar Note

    A "Vorrei + infinitive" frame. "Denuncia" is the formal act of notifying the authorities of an offence, used with verbs such as "sporgere", "presentare" and "inoltrare". "Furto" is theft without violence; taking by force is "la rapina"

28. C'è qualcuno che parla giapponese?

    Is there anyone who speaks Japanese?

    Usage

    Use at a police station or hospital to look for someone who speaks Japanese

    Grammar Note

    The "C'è … che parla …?" frame with "qualcuno" (anyone) and "giapponese" (Japanese). "Qualcuno" is an indefinite pronoun and takes the singular, hence "parla"

29. Questa persona ha perso conoscenza

    This person is unconscious

    Usage

    Tell paramedics or bystanders that a collapsed person is not conscious

    Grammar Note

    "Perso" is the past participle of "perdere", here with the third-person "ha". "Perdere conoscenza" means to lose consciousness; "persona" means "person"

30. Qualcuno sta annegando! Aiuto!

    Someone is drowning! Help!

    Usage

    Shout to report that someone is drowning and to call for help

    Grammar Note

    The "stare + gerund" progressive, here in the third person ("sta"). The intransitive sense of "annegare" is to die by drowning. "Aiuto!" ("Help!") is added unchanged

31. Sono stato / stata picchiato / picchiata

    I was beaten

    Usage

    Report to the police or a doctor that you were assaulted

    Grammar Note

    The "essere + past participle" passive, with the ending agreeing in gender (-o/-a). "Picchiare" means to strike or beat someone, as in the passive "è stato picchiato selvaggiamente"

32. Sono stato / stata accoltellato / accoltellata

    I was stabbed

    Usage

    Tell paramedics or police you were stabbed with a blade — a top-priority injury

    Grammar Note

    A passive frame. "Accoltellare" is derived from "coltello" (knife) and means to strike or wound with a knife

33. I ladri sono entrati nella mia camera

    My room was broken into

    Usage

    Report to police or hotel staff that your room was entered while you were out

    Grammar Note

    Uses "entrare nella…" (to get into), with the plural of "ladro" (thief) as the subject. "Entrare" takes "essere", so the participle agrees with the subject ("entrati"); "camera" means "room"

34. Quella persona è il colpevole

    That person is the culprit

    Usage

    Point out the offender to the police; you can show it without saying anything

    Grammar Note

    The demonstrative "quella" is feminine singular, agreeing with the feminine noun "persona". "Colpevole" means the person responsible for a culpable act and also works as a noun ("il colpevole" = the culprit)

35. Sono stato / stata truffato / truffata

    I was deceived

    Usage

    Report a scam or a rip-off to the police

    Grammar Note

    A passive frame. "Truffare" means to commit fraud or take by deception, and is used in the passive as in "siamo stati truffati" and "è rimasto truffato"

36. Mi hanno rubato il portafoglio

    My wallet was stolen

    Usage

    Report to the police that your wallet was stolen

    Grammar Note

    The "Mi hanno + past participle" frame — Italian prefers this third-person-plural active over a passive. "Rubato" shares its root with "derubato"

37. Ho dimenticato qualcosa

    I have forgotten something

    Usage

    Say you left something behind in a shop or a vehicle

    Grammar Note

    "Dimenticare" (to forget) in the "avere + past participle" present perfect; "qualcosa" means "something"

38. Sono stato / stata investito / investita da un'auto

    I was hit by a car

    Usage

    Tell paramedics or police that a car hit you

    Grammar Note

    A passive frame. Sense 3b of "investire" is a moving vehicle running a person over. In "un'auto", "un'" elides "una"

39. Scappi dall'uscita di sicurezza, per favore

    Please escape through the emergency exit

    Usage

    Tell someone to get out through the emergency exit in a fire or similar

    Grammar Note

    "Uscita di sicurezza" is the wording on emergency-exit signs; "dall'" contracts "da + l'". "Scappare" means to flee to escape a danger, and "Scappi" is a "Lei" imperative

40. Attenzione!

    Watch out!

    Usage

    One word to make someone notice an immediate danger, shouted or shown

    Grammar Note

    "Attenzione" used on its own as a bare warning; Italian hazard signs carry this single word

41. Faccia presto, per favore

    Please hurry

    Usage

    Ask someone to hurry with a rescue or a procedure

    Grammar Note

    The "Lei" imperative of "far presto" (to be quick); ", per favore" is appended to be polite

42. Venga subito, per favore

    Please come right away

    Usage

    Ask a doctor or the police to come to where you are at once

    Grammar Note

    The "Lei" imperative of "venire". "Subito" means "right away"; ", per favore" is appended to be polite

43. È un'emergenza

    It's an emergency

    Usage

    Say this when you are being made to wait and the situation cannot wait

    Grammar Note

    An "È un…" frame. "Emergenza" is feminine, hence the elided "un'"

44. Mi porti in ospedale, per favore

    Please take me to a hospital

    Usage

    Ask a taxi driver or a passer-by to take you to a hospital

    Grammar Note

    The "Lei" imperative of "portare". "Ospedale" means "hospital", and ", per favore" is appended to be polite

45. C'è stato un incidente stradale

    There has been a traffic accident

    Usage

    Tell the police, the ambulance service or bystanders that a traffic accident has happened

    Grammar Note

    The "C'è stato un incidente" frame with the adjective "stradale" added. "Stradale" means relating to the road or traffic, so "incidente stradale" is a road accident

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