Common Italian collocation
| Pronunciation | |
| Literal translation | To do the expense |
| English translation | To do the (grocery) shopping |
| You do NOT say |
Fare spese and fare compere mean “to go shopping”, eg. looking at shop windows and buy clothes, purses, jewelry… Fare la spesa, on the other hand, means “to go grocery shopping”.
Spesa has a double meaning in Italian: it can mean “grocery shopping”, as in our case, and “expense”, “cost”, as in…
| Ho molte spese da affrontare a fine mese. | I have many expenses to cover at the end of the month. |
Examples
| Mia sorella è appena uscita per fare spesa. | My sister just went out for groceries. | |
| Andrò a fare la spesa non appena esco dal lavoro. | I will do the shopping as soon as I get off work. | |
| Il papà fa la spesa per i nonni. | Dad does the shopping for the grandparents. |
Related lessons
- fare (to do)
- spesa (expense, grocery shopping)
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