Prestare attenzione
To pay attention
Let’s break this up!
Prestare attenzione literally means to lend attention.
Prestare
To lend, to loan
Attenzione
Attention
To pay is translated as pagare, but Italians never say pagare attenzione.
If you like Harry Potter as much as I do, you’ll certainly remember Snape’s unforgettable first speech in the Sorcerer’s Stone movie.
“Then again, maybe some of you have come to Hogwarts in possession of abilities so formidable that you feel confident enough to not pay attention!”
In the video below, you can hear that “to not pay attention” was dubbed in Italian as da non prestare attenzione.
“Tuttavia, magari alcuni di voi sono venuti a Hogwarts in possesso di abilità così formidabili da sentirsi completi abbastanza da non prestare attenzione!”
Examples
Dovresti prestare attenzione a quello che dice.
You should pay attention to what he says.
Anna non presta attenzione ai dettagli.
Anna doesn’t pay attention to details.
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