Meaning of macché in Italian
Macché in Italian is a common and informal interjection that has no direct translation into English. Because it emphasizes a negative statement, we could translate it as “as if” or “not at all”.
First of all, let’s hear how macché is pronounced.
Macché
Not at all, as if, no way
Macché in Italian: Examples
Luca si è ricordato di portarti le chiavi? – Macché!
Did Luca remember to bring you the keys? – Not at all!
Siete andati a fare spesa? – Macché, non siamo nemmeno usciti di casa.
Did you go shopping for groceries? – As if, we have not even left the house.
Avete mangiato bene? – Macché! C’era un capello nel mio piatto!
Did you eat well? – No way! There was a hair on my plate!
Using macché in Italian
Macché can be used alone as an exclamation.
Luca si è alzato? – Macché!
Did Luca get up? – Nope!
Hai finito il lavoro? – Macché! Ci vorranno ancora molte ore.
Have you finished the work? – No way, it will take several more hours.
If you want to emphasize the object or the verb you want to negate, you can use macché followed by the object/verb.
Hai un minuto di tempo? – Macché un minuto, non ho nemmeno un secondo!
Do you have a minute to spare? – Not a minute at all, I don’t even have a second!
Vuoi cenare al ristorante stasera? – Macché cenare al ristorante, ci sono un sacco di avanzi nel frigo!
Do you want to have dinner at a restaurant tonight? – No way we are dining at the restaurant, there are lots of leftovers in the fridge!
Prendo 20 euro, dovrebbero bastare. – Macché 20 euro, prendine almeno 50!
I’ll take 20 euros, that should be enough. – Don’t take 20 euros, take at least 50 euros!
More free Italian resources
You might want to keep learning Italian online with these free Italian resources:
Aiuta Lingookies con un 👍!
❤️ If you liked this lesson on how to use macché in Italian, share it with your friends!