Sempre

Italian word of the day

Pronunciation
English translation	Always, still

Examples

Luca è sempre puntuale agli appuntamenti.	Luca is always on time for his appointments.
Mia sorella fa sempre colazione alle 8.	My sister always has breakfast at 8 o’clock.
Rovini sempre tutto!	You always spoil everything!
Tom ha sempre voluto entrare nell’aviazione.	Tom has always wanted to join the Air Force.
Matteo si lamenta sempre.	Matteo is always complaining.

Using sempre in Italian

We’ve said that sempre in Italian is an adverb that translates to the English adverb “always” or “still”.

Unlike English, it’s always placed after a single verb. Like English, it’s placed after the auxiliary verb in compound tenses.

Marco arriva sempre in ritardo.	Marco always arrives late.
Ho sempre letto almeno due libri al mese.	I’ve always read at least two books a month.

Sempre can also translate as forever if it’s preceded by the preposition per, as in…

Le fotografie sbiadiranno, ma i ricordi rimarranno per sempre.	The photographs will fade, but the memories will remain forever.
Ti amerò per sempre.	I will love you forever.

Sempre can also be used as a synonym for ancora, which can mean “still” or “again”. In our case, it’s a synonym for “still”. For example, you could say…

Lavorate sempre alla Ferrari?	Do you still work for Ferrari?
Mia zia vive sempre in fondo alla via.	My aunt still lives down the street.

You can also use sempre in Italian with comparative adjectives such as meglio, peggio, più and meno to translate more and more, less and less etc.

Prevenire è sempre meglio che curare.	Prevention is always better than cure.
In questa zona piove sempre meno.	It rains less and less in this area.

Expressions

There are a number of common expressions featuring sempre in Italian. These are…

• come sempre (as always)
• essere sempre all’erta (to always be on guard)
• essere sempre in movimento (to always be in motion)
• la mamma dei cretini è sempre incinta (stupidity breeds stupidity)
• avere sempre l’ultima parola (to always have the last word)
• l’erba del vicino è sempre più verde (the grass is always greener on the other side)

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