Macché

Italian word of the day

Pronunciation
English translation	Not at all, as if, no way

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”.

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!

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