Meaning of bravo in Italian
Bravo is the Italian translation for “good”.
| Origin | Probably from the Latin word barbărus, “savage, wild” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈbraːvo/ |
Bravo
Good
Bravo in Italian: Examples
Bravo! Non hai fatto nemmeno un errore.
Well done! You didn’t make a single mistake.
Leonardo è un bravo dentista.
Leonardo is a good dentist.
Non sono molto bravo a nuotare.
I am not very good at swimming.
Mattia è davvero un bravo ragazzo.
Mattia is a really good guy.
Conosci qualcuno che è bravo a disegnare?
Do you know someone who is good at drawing?
Bravo in Italian: Different forms
Like most nouns in Italian, bravo has two articles (definite or indefinite articles) and two numbers (singular or plural).
| Singular | Plural | |
| Masculine | Bravo | Bravi |
| Feminine | Brava | Brave |
If you’ve ever seen the movie Addams Family Values, you may remember the life-saving lesson scene where a girl named Amanda volunteers to jump into the water and fake drowning because she’s “going to be an actress”.
At this point, the tutor tells her “Brava!” as a compliment. Then Wednesday refuses to jump into the water because she can’t swim! 😁
Movies often get foreign languages wrong, but in our case, brava is correct. Amanda is a girl, so you should use the feminine form of bravo, which is actually brava. This is because there are two different genders in Italian.
Also note how the accent is on the -a- vowel, bràvo. Don’t put emphasis on the final -o!
Mio nonno è bravo a lavorare il legno.
My grandfather is good at woodworking.
Mia nonna è brava a lavorare a maglia.
My grandmother is good at knitting.
Plural adjectives behave the same way: if you want to describe a group of good children (masculine plural), use bravi. If you’re talking about some good girls (feminine plural), use brave instead.
Bravo in Italian has actually two common meanings:
- to be good at something
- to behave in a positive way
You can’t use bravo to describe inanimate objects. Use buono instead.
Questa bistecca è proprio buona.
This steak is really good.
Other examples with bravo in Italian:
Luca e Vincenzo aiutano la signora a portare la spesa. Che bravi ragazzi!
Luca and Vincenzo help the lady carry her groceries. Such good boys!
Quante brave attrici conosci?
How many good actresses do you know?
Origin of bravo in Italian
Bravo hasn’t always had a positive connotation. In the past, it was synonymous with “thug” or “hired assassin”, and even today it doesn’t always convey a positive message, such as in the expression notte brava, wild night.
Notte brava
Wild night, crazy night
You may have read or studied I promessi sposi (The Betrothed), a novel by the Italian author Alessandro Manzoni. In this novel, the “villain” Don Rodrigo, a local baron, hires some bravi to forbid the marriage of the two main characters, Renzo and Lucia.
Note how we are using the plural masculine form, bravi!
It begins with Renzo and Lucia (Lucy), a couple living in a village in Lombardy, near Lecco, on Lake Como, who are planning to wed on 8 November 1628. The parish priest, don Abbondio, is walking home on the eve of the wedding when he is accosted by two “bravi” (thugs) who warn him not to perform the marriage, because the local baron (Don Rodrigo) has forbidden it.
The Betrothed. (2023, January 28). In Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Betrothed_(Manzoni_novel)
The bravi were hired mercenaries and took advantage of every opportunity. Thus, the word came to mean “to be good at doing”.
More free Italian resources
You might want to keep learning Italian online with these free Italian resources:
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