Meaning of MACCHÉ in Italian

What is macché in Italian? How do you pronounce it? How do you translate it into English?

In this lesson, we will look at how to use this word with the help of many audio recordings and example sentences. Read on to learn everything you need to know.

Let’s get started! Iniziamo!

woman about to eat a meal - how do you use macché in italian and what does it mean

How to use macché in Italian

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

Its pronunciation is close to muck-keh. If you have trouble pronouncing Italian sounds, check out the Italian pronunciation guide.

Now, let’s see some example sentences with macché in Italian, before we look at how to use this word.

Title: Italian All-in-One For Dummies
Language: English / Italian
Publisher: For Dummies
Pages: 672

Learn to speak Italian like a native? Easy.
Italian All-in-One For Dummies appeals to those readers looking for a comprehensive, all-encompassing guide to mastering the Italian language. It contains content from all For Dummies Italian language instruction titles, including Italian For Dummies, Intermediate Italian For Dummies, Italian Verbs For Dummies, Italian Phrases For Dummies, Italian Grammar For Dummies, and Italian For Dummies Audio Set.

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!

people having a very cold picnic

Now let’s see how to use macché.


Use of 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!

man opening his wallet

And that’s the end of our lesson on the meaning of macché in Italian!


What next?

Now that you’ve seen how to use macché in Italian, you might want to keep learning Italian online with these free Italian resources:

Aiuta Lingookies con un 👍!

❤️ If you liked this lesson on the meaning of macché in Italian, consider sharing it with your social media friends who are also studying Italian.

Leave a Comment