Fai/fa’ attenzione!
| Words you should know | Fare (to do) + attenzione (attention) |
| When to use this | With 1 person you’re familiar with |
| When NOT to use this | With strangers (doh!) and groups |
Fai can be shortened to fa’. In this case, you will need to add an apostrophe.
Fai attenzione! Fa’ attenzione!
Be careful! (singular, informal)
Fai attenzione all’ultimo gradino. È più alto degli altri.
Be careful with the last step. It is higher than the others.
Fa’ attenzione, ci sono molti sassi sulla strada.
Be careful, there are many pebbles on the road.
Fate attenzione!
| When to use this | With a group of people |
| When NOT to use this | With strangers (doh!) and 1 person at a time |
Fate attenzione!
Be careful! (plural)
For example, you can say…
Bambini, fate attenzione alle macchine!
Children, watch out for cars!
Fare attenzione can also be used to translate “to pay attention”.
Fate attenzione a quello che dice l’insegnante.
Pay attention to what the teacher says.
In Italian, unlike English, there are two kinds of “you”. There is a singular “you” and then there is a plural “you”. If you’re speaking to a group, you’ll need to conjugate any verb or pronoun accordingly.
Sia paziente!
| When to use this | With 1 person you’re NOT familiar with |
| When NOT to use this | With friends, family and groups |
When speaking formally, Italians address each other with the subject “she”, lei. Use Lei in the written form if you want to be very polite.
Signor Rossi, faccia attenzione!
Mr. Rossi, be careful! (polite)
Other ways to translate be careful in Italian
Fai attenzione is certainly the most common way to ask someone to be careful in Italian, but there are other ways to ask for someone’s attention.
Sii prudente translates as “be cautious”.
Sii prudente, siate prudenti, sia prudente
Be careful (informal, plural, polite)
Stai attento translates as “be attentive” or “be alert”.
Stai/sta’ attento, state attenti, stia attento
Be careful (informal, plural, polite)
Simply saying attenzione! (“attention”) is also common, especially when time is limited and you need to warn someone of an immediate danger.
Attenzione!
Be careful!
More free Italian resources
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