The 10 Commandments (i 10 Comandamenti) are the foundation of Christian divine law as releaved to Moses (Mosè) on Mount Sinai (Monte Sinai).
In this lesson, we will look at how to pronounce the 10 Commandments in Italian with the help of audio recordings. Let’s get started! Iniziamo!
The 10 Commandments in italian
The 10 Commandments as in the Hebrew Bible have been modified by the Catholic tradition to make them easier to remember. This is the version we will talk about in this lesson. This is how you pronounce them:
The 10 Commandments in Italian
- Non avrai altro Dio all’infuori di me.
(You shall have no other God before me.) - Non nominare il nome di Dio invano.
(Do not take the name of God in vain.) - Ricordati di santificare le feste.
(Remember to keep holy the celebration days.) - Onora il padre e la madre.
(Honor your father and your mother.) - Non uccidere.
(Do not kill.) - Non commettere atti impuri.
(Do not commit impure actions.) - Non rubare.
(Do not steal.) - Non dire falsa testimonianza.
(Do not bear false witness.) - Non desiderare la donna d’altri.
(Do not covet another’s woman.) - Non desiderare la roba d’altri.
(Do not covet another’s goods.)
If you have trouble pronouncing Italian sounds, check out the Italian pronunciation guide.
Let’s now see the 10 Commandments in Italian one by one.
Title: Italian All-in-One For Dummies
Language: English / Italian
Publisher: For Dummies
Pages: 672
Learn to speak Italian like a native? Easy.
Italian All-in-One For Dummies appeals to those readers looking for a comprehensive, all-encompassing guide to mastering the Italian language. It contains content from all For Dummies Italian language instruction titles, including Italian For Dummies, Intermediate Italian For Dummies, Italian Verbs For Dummies, Italian Phrases For Dummies, Italian Grammar For Dummies, and Italian For Dummies Audio Set.
1) Non avrai altro Dio all’infuori di me.
Non avrai altro Dio all’infuori di me.
(You shall have no other God before me.)
The first of the 10 Commandments in Italian is very simple. God should be a priority in a Christian’s life. There’s no god of money, power or success.
Non avrai literally means “you will not have”. Altro Dio means “another God” and all’infuori di me can be translated literally as “outside of me”.
2) Non nominare il nome di Dio invano.
Non nominare il nome di Dio invano.
(Do not take the name of God in vain.)
This applies to blasfemy and insults, but also for humor and sarcasm showing lack of respect.
Nominare means “to name”, from il nome, “the name”. Invano is an adverb that means “uselessly”, while vano is an adjective that means “useless”.
3) Ricordati di santificare le feste.
Ricordati di santificare le feste.
(Remember to keep holy the celebration days.)
You should remember to rest on a Sunday, if you are a Christian, or on a Saturday, if you follow the Hebrew tradition, and praise God.
Ricordarsi means “to remember” and it’s a reflexive verb here. Santo is an adjective that means “saint”, while santificare means “to sanctify”. Feste could also be translated as “parties” or “feasts”, but it’s obvious that we need a different translation here.
4) Onora il padre e la madre.
Onora il padre e la madre.
(Honor your father and your mother.)
This is self-explaining: you shall respect your parents and love them without limits, since they’ve been the ones to care for you since you were born.
Onorare means “to honor” and comes from onore, “honor”. Padre and madre respectively means “father” and “mother”. You don’t need a possessive adjective in Italian.
5) Non uccidere.
Non uccidere.
(Do not kill.)
The fifth of the 10 Commandments in Italian tells that since life is sacred, killing life is sin.
Linguistically speaking, this Commandment is pretty simple: non uccidere literally means “do not kill” and features an imperative conjugation.
6) Non commettere atti impuri.
Non commettere atti impuri.
(Do not commit impure actions.)
This was originally “do not commit adultery”, much like the version that is known in English speaking countries, but it got changed.
Atto impuro literally translates as “impure act”. Impuro is the opposite of puro, “pure”.
7) Non rubare.
Non rubare.
(Do not steal.)
This includes not only physical goods, but also fraud and negligence.
There’s a funny Italian joke on this commandment!
8) Non dire falsa testimonianza.
Non dire falsa testimonianza.
(Do not bear false witness.)
This Commandment tells us not to lie. It also applies to fake praise.
Non dire literally means “do not say/tell”, while testimonianza is related to the verb testimoniare (to witness) and the noun il testimone (the witness).
9) Non desiderare la donna d’altri.
Non desiderare la donna d’altri.
(Do not covet another’s woman.)
The second to last Italian Commandment is related to Commandment no. 6. Adultery is forbidden, but so is any luxurious glance at another man’s wife.
Desiderare literally means “to desire”. Although donna translates as “woman”, it’s intended as “wife” here.
10) Non desiderare la roba d’altri.
Non desiderare la roba d’altri.
(Do not covet another’s goods.)
This is the last of the 10 Commandments in Italian! It teaches that envy is a deadly sin.
Roba is actually a very informal word, meaning “stuff”.
And that’s the end of our lesson on the 10 Commandments in Italian!
What next?
Now that you’ve seen the 10 Commandments in Italian, you might want to keep learning Italian online with these free Italian resources:
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