Meaning of quasi in Italian
Quasi is an adverb of quantity that can be translated into English as “almost” or “nearly”.
Quasi
Almost, nearly
Quasi in Italian: Examples
Il cielo è sereno quasi ogni giorno.
The sky is clear almost every day.
Ho quasi perso il treno.
I almost missed the train.
Sono quasi le dieci.
It is almost ten o’clock.
Hai finito? – Quasi.
Are you ready? – Almost.
È quasi impossibile imparare una lingua straniera in poco tempo.
It is almost impossible to learn a foreign language in a short time.
Sono quasi annegato.
I almost drowned.
Using quasi in Italian
We’ve said that quasi in Italian is an adverb of quantity and that it translates into English as “almost” or “nearly”. It can modify verbs, nouns, and adjectives. It’s not very different from those English adverbs.
Let’s listen to some other examples.
Il Texas è quasi il doppio del Giappone.
Texas is almost twice the size of Japan.
Qui non piove quasi mai.
It almost never rains here.
Quando arriverai lì, sarà quasi buio.
By the time you get there, it will be almost dark.
Sono quasi pronto, aspetta un altro minuto!
I’m almost ready, just wait another minute!
It’s also worth noting that quasi in Italian can also be the first element in a sentence, just like “nearly”. For example, you could say…
Quasi tutti i giapponesi hanno i capelli scuri.
Nearly all Japanese people have dark hair.
Quasi mille persone hanno partecipato alla manifestazione.
Nearly a thousand people participated in the demonstration.
Quasi dimenticavo!
I almost forgot!
Quasi in Italian: Expressions
There are a number of common set expressions featuring quasi in Italian. These are…
- quasi quasi… (I’m almost tempted to…)
- quasi mai (hardly ever)
- quasi niente/nulla (almost nothing)
- quasi sempre (almost always)
- quasi pieno (almost full)
For example, you can say…
Quasi quasi mangio una bella porzione di gelato!
I’m almost tempted to eat a big portion of ice cream!
Non so quasi niente di te.
I know almost nothing about you.
Il mio vicino non porta quasi mai il suo cane al parco.
My neighbor almost never takes his dog to the park.
L’autobus è quasi pieno. Ci sono solo due posti liberi.
The bus is almost full. There are only two empty seats.
More free Italian resources
You might want to keep learning Italian online with these free Italian resources:
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