Meaning of intanto in Italian
Intanto is an adverb of time that can be translated into English as “in the meantime” or “meanwhile”.
Intanto
In the meantime, meanwhile
Intanto in Italian: Examples
Io esco a fare spesa. Tu intanto puoi mangiare uno snack.
I’m going out to buy groceries. You can have a snack in the meantime.
Luca tornerà tra un paio d’ore. Intanto prepariamo la cena.
Luca will be back in a couple of hours. In the meantime, let’s prepare dinner.
Devo fare una telefonata. Intanto chiama un taxi.
I have to make a phone call. Call a taxi in the meantime.
Using intanto in Italian
You use intanto in Italian to talk about actions that are happening at the same time as others.
Io preparo la cena. Tu, intanto, porta fuori il cane.
I will prepare dinner. You, meanwhile, take the dog out.
Two actions are needed to complete the sentence.
La mamma era impegnata a lavorare a maglia. Intanto papà faceva un pisolino accanto al fuoco.
Mom was busy knitting. In the meantime, dad was taking a nap by the fire.
Don’t confuse intanto with tanto, which means much! It’s true that this word used to be written as two different words, in tanto, but that spelling is no longer used.
The expression intanto che translates to “while” and is a synonym for mentre.
Intanto che tu fai i compiti, io pulirò il pavimento.
While you do your homework, I will clean the floor.
Siediti un po’ sulla poltrona intanto che io sistemo la cucina.
Sit down in the armchair for a bit while I tidy up the kitchen.
Mio padre si addormenta spesso intanto che guarda la TV.
My father often falls asleep while watching TV.
Intanto in Italian can also translate as yet when you are introducing a counter-argument to what you’ve just said.
Marco dice di avere mal di stomaco, ma intanto ha appena mangiato mezza tavoletta di cioccolato.
Marco says he has a stomachache, but in the meantime he has just eaten half a chocolate bar.
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