How do you translate the expression to make sense in Italian?
In this lesson, we’ll take a look at this very expression, also known as collocation, and will even talk about what kinds of senses there are in Italian and what words you can use to describe them.
Let’s go! Iniziamo!
To make sense in Italian
First of all, let’s translate to make sense in Italian.
Avere senso
To make sense

To make sense in Italian – Let’s break this down!
Avere senso could literally be translated as to have sense.
Avere
To have
Senso
Sense
Quello che stai dicendo non ha senso.
What you are saying doesn’t make sense.
Non ha senso!
It doesn’t make sense!

Avere is a verb of the second -ere group. Its indicativo presente conjugation is irregular and is as follows.
io | ho |
tu | hai |
lui, lei | ha |
noi | abbiamo |
voi | avete |
loro | hanno |
Title: Italian All-in-One For Dummies
Language: English / Italian
Publisher: For Dummies
Pages: 672
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Avere is a very common verb used in a wide variety of other Italian expressions. Here are a few:
Avere caldo
To be hot
Avere freddo
To be cold
Avere bisogno di
To need
Avere fame
To be hungry
Avere sete
To be thirsty
➡️ Read the lessons on how to say to be thirsty and hungry in Italian!

For example, you could say:
Non hai caldo con il cappotto? Ci sono 21 gradi!
Aren’t you warm in your coat? It’s 21 degrees!
Quell’uccellino sul ramo sta tremando. Deve avere freddo.
That little bird on the branch is shivering. It must be cold.
Ho bisogno di tre matite e sei quaderni a righe.
I need three pencils and six ruled notebooks.
Giorgia ha sudato molto e ora ha sete.
Georgia has sweated a lot and is thirsty now.
Senso
We said that the translation for to make sense in Italian is avere senso. Senso is a masculine noun (un/il senso). Its forms are as follows.
Un senso
A sense
Dei sensi
Some senses
Il senso
The sense
I sensi
The senses

Senso has a double meaning in Italian. It can mean… well, meaning and also sense as in perception. The 5 senses are translated as i 5 sensi.
Il sesto senso
The sixth sense
Quali sono i cinque sensi?
What are the five senses?
Tu credi che le donne abbiano un sesto senso?
Do you believe that women have a sixth sense?

Here are all the 5 senses in Italian:
Il senso dell’udito
The sense of hearing
Il senso dell’olfatto
The sense of smell
Il senso della vista
The sense of sight
Il senso del gusto
The sense of taste
Il senso del tatto
The sense of touch
Let’s take a few examples:
Gli esseri umani hanno cinque sensi: vista, udito, tatto, gusto e olfatto.
Human beings have five senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste and smell.
La vista è considerata il più complesso dei cinque sensi.
Sight is considered the most complex of the five senses.
Ho perso il senso del gusto a causa del raffreddore.
I lost my sense of taste because of a cold.

You can also add an adjective to describe the sense itself, as in:
Scarso senso
Poor sense
Acuto senso
Keen sense
For example, you could say…
Tom ha uno scarso senso dell’orientamento.
Tom has a poor sense of direction.
Il cane ha un acuto senso dell’olfatto.
A dog has a keen sense of smell.
To be thirsty in Italian – Examples
Nulla di quanto detto da Tom aveva senso.
Nothing Tom said made any sense.
Faccio solo ciò che ritengo sensato.
I only do what I think makes sense.
Alcune delle tue frasi non hanno senso.
Some of your sentences make no sense.
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