Meaning of mica in Italian
Mica is an adverb used in colloquial Italian and that can be translated into English as “not at all” or “it’s not as if…”, or also “by chance”. It doesn’t really have a direct equivalent in English.
Mica
At all, it’s not as if…
Mica in Italian: Examples
Non hai mica un foglio e una matita?
Do you happen to have a pencil and paper?
Non ho rincorso quell’orso. Non sono mica stupido!
I didn’t chase that bear. It’s not like I’m stupid!
Mica potevo sapere che stessi dormendo!
It’s not like I could have known you were asleep!
Non ho mica capito. Puoi ripetere?
I didn’t quite understand. Can you repeat it?
Now let’s see how to use mica in Italian.
Using mica in Italian
We’ve said that mica in Italian is an adverb that translates English expressions such as “not at all” and “it’s not as if…”. It makes the sentence negative with non (the sentence itself can be either a question or a statement, as we’ve seen in the previous examples) and is placed after the verb.
Non è mica come dice lui!
It’s not like he says!
Non hai mica da accendere?
Don’t you have a light, by any chance?
Literally: Don’t you have [something] to light [things] up, by any chance?
The word mica in Italian is also used for emphasis, like the English verb to do in “I do not know”.
Su col morale! Hai solo preso un brutto voto. Non è mica la fine del mondo!
Cheer up! You just got a bad grade. It’s not like it’s the end of the world!
Non mi sento mica tanto bene.
I don’t really feel that well.
50 euro per una maglietta? Non è mica tanto a buon mercato.
50 euros for a T-shirt? That’s not so cheap.
It can also be used without the negative particle non, but then you have to put mica before the verb.
Mica ti sei ricordato di portarmi il libro?
You didn’t remember to bring me the book, did you?
Mica credevo che saresti venuto!
I didn’t really think you’d come!
Compare these with…
Non ti sei mica ricordato di portarmi il libro?
You didn’t remember to bring me the book, did you?
Non credevo mica che saresti venuto!
I didn’t really think you’d come!
Mica in Italian: Expressions
Since mica is a very common word in Italian, there are a few expressions featuring this word. The most common ones are…
- mica male (not bad at all)
- mica tanto (not really)
For example, you can say…
Mica male questa vista del lago!
This view of the lake is not bad at all!
Ti piace la musica country? – Mica tanto.
Do you like country music? – Not so much.
More free Italian resources
You might want to keep learning Italian online with these free Italian resources:
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