Talking about emotions

Worry and Anxiety in Italian — La preoccupazione, L’ansia and L’ansietà. 

Many scenarios, either real or imagined, can prompt a feeling of concern. In short, in life there are many reasons to worry, and we often try to get advice or find solace for our worries by speaking with another. In Italian, there are many ways to convey the emotions we feel when we get worried and upset. Therefore, we must learn to think in Italian if we are to communicate our emotions in Italian!

The Italian noun that means   “the worry” or “the concern” is  la preoccupazione. If one has more than one worry, the plural is le preoccupazioni, with the regular feminine “e” ending changing to an “i” in the plural. Of note, worrying about something usually involves anxiety, and a less common use of preoccupazione is to describe one’s anxiety.

The Italian nouns with the primary definition of anxiety are l’ansia  and l’ansietà. The plural forms are le ansie and le ansietà.

L’ansia also carries the meanings of angst, apprehension or stress.  Along these lines, the expression, “Che ansia!” can have several meanings, such as, “How stressful!” or “Oh, for goodness sake!” or even, “Give it a rest!”

Use the phrase [essere in ansia] to describe that you are worried. Simply stated, “Sono in ansia,” means, “I am worried.”

Combine ansia with stare to create the phrase [stare in ansia], to say that you are anxious.  “Sto in ansia,” means, “I am anxious.”

L’ansia can also be used in a positive sense, to describe the anxious feeling that comes with a longing to see someone. The idiomatic expression is, “Ti aspetto con ansia,” for  “I can’t wait to see you,” or “I long to see you.” A more commonly used idiomatic expression to describe a feeling of happy anticipation is, “Non vedo l’ora di vederti!” for “I can’t wait to see you!”

Below is a summary of the common Italian expressions one can use to describe worrying or being anxious with the noun ansia.

Che ansia!	How stressful! Oh, for goodness sake! Give it a rest!
Sono in ansia.	I am worried.
Sto in ansia.	I am anxious.
Ti aspetto con ansia.	I can’t wait to see you.
Non vedo l’ora di vederti!	I can’t wait to see you!

 

Finally, the Italian noun for problem, il problema, may also stand in for the noun worry, perhaps to underscore the particular reason for one’s preoccupation.  Problema is an Italian noun of Greek origin with a -μα ending. Several of these Greek nouns found their way into Latin and were carried over into the Italian language. Greek nouns with  -μα equivalent Italian  -ema endings are masculine.  Hence the masculine definite article “il” in Italian is used with problema. The plural is “i problemi.”  More examples of this type of noun are found in a previous “Conversational Italian!” blog entitled, Italian Language… Read All About Ema.

L’interesse  is also sometimes defined as worry, given it’s connotations of interest or concern.

 

---

Getting  Worried in Italian — Preoccupare and Preoccuparsi

The Italian verb preoccupare means “to worry” or “to be anxious/distressed.” This verb is generally used when someone has been put into a worrisome situation, and usually comes up in conversation when two individuals are talking about something worrying another.  If the name of the person under discussion has already been mentioned, an Italian direct object pronoun (lo/la — him/her) may be used with preoccupare to avoid repetition. 

The reflexive verb preoccuparsi, means “to get worried” and also translates as “to worry.”  Remember that Italian reflexive verbs are used to convey the idea of “to get,” from another blog in this series, “How to say, ‘Get…’ in Italian.” This reflexive verb  is used to describe the feeling of being worried experienced by an individual.  You will note from the English translations in the examples that worrying not reflexive in English.

Preoccupare and preoccuparsi are regular -are verbs in the present tense.

The past participle of preoccupare is preoccupato and for the past tense passato prossimo the helping verb is avere.

 

Examples with preoccupare for when something is worrisome to someone are below. Notice that preoccupare is often used in complex sentences with more than one phrase. In complex sentences, preoccupare is conjugated to reflect the subject of the phrase it is used in;  if a single thing is worrisome, use the third person singular -a ending. If many things are worrisome, use the third person plural –ano ending.

Michele non ho lavorato per sei mesi. Ora, il mutuo sulla casa lo preoccupa.
Michael has not worked for 6 months. Now, the mortgage on the house worries him.

Maria studia molto perchè gli esami la preoccupano.
Mary studies a lot because exams worry her.

 

Examples with preoccuparsi for when an individual is worried about someone or something are given below. Preoccuparsi is one of the many Italian nouns that are followed by di,  in this case [preoccuparsi + di] renders the idea of “being worried.” Preoccuparsi can also be followed by quando (when) or used without di in a stand-alone phrase.  Sometimes, but not always, the English translation will substitute “about” for the Italian “di.”

Mi preoccupo quando mia figlia esce da sola di notte.
I get worried/worry when my daughter goes out alone at night.

Mi preoccupo di come stai.
I worry about how you are.

Si preoccupa sempre di che cosa succederà se Maria lo lascia per un’altro.
He always worries  what will happen if Maria leaves him for another.

Non voglio preoccuparti, ma ho sentito che questo insegnante da esami difficili.
I don’t want you get worried/worry you, but I heard that this teacher gives difficult exams.

 

---

Don’t Get  Worried in Italian — Preoccuparsi Command Forms

 

To encourage a family member or friend not to worry use  preoccuparsi and the sentence structure  for Italian negative commands, which is [non + infinitive verb]. The reflexive pronoun can go before or be attached to the end of the infinitive verb. Two often used, familiar phrases that arise from these grammar rules using preoccuparsi and are  worth committing to memory: “Non ti preoccupare!” and “Non preoccuparti!” which both mean, “Don’t get worried!”/ “Don’t worry! (yourself).”

To tell an acquaintance not to worry in a polite way, start by changing the familiar reflexive pronoun “ti” to the “polite you” reflexive pronoun “si.” The sentence structure is also important; the reflexive pronoun is always placed before the verb when making a polite command. The difficulty with polite Italian commands is that instead of using an infinitive verb, the command verb must be conjugated in the subjunctive mood. An explanation of  the Italian subjunctive mood is beyond the scope of this blog. For our purposes, just remember the subjunctive conjugation preoccupi and use the polite sentence structure to create the polite command, “Non si preoccupi!” 

Notice from both the polite and familiar examples that an Italian sentence in the command form is always followed by an explanation point. 

Therefore, if we want to tell someone not to worry by replying to our examples in the earlier section…

To encourage a parent whose daughter goes out alone at night not to worry, a friend might say:

“Non ti preoccupare!” or “Non preoccuparti!”  “Lei è una donna ora e non va in posti pericolosi.”
“Don’t get worried/worry (yourself)!” “She is a woman now and doesn’t go to dangerous places.”

While an acquaintance might say:

“Non si preoccupi!”
“Don’t get worried/worry (yourself)!”

 

To mention politely that Michele should not be worried about the mortgage, this time use the third person reflexive pronoun “si” and say:

“Digli che non si preoccupi. Ho un lavoro per lui.”
“Tell (to) him not to worry. I have a job for him.”

 

---

Getting  Worried About… in Italian —  Preoccuparsi Per and Preoccupato Per

 

Use [preoccuparsi + per] to relate worrying about  someone or something. Remember that the Italian present tense can be translated into English as the simple present tense (worry) as well as the present progressive tense (worrying). And be careful which preposition you add after preoccuparsi! The blog, Saying, “I’ll take care of it!” mentions that “preoccuparsi di” is one of the ways Italians relay they will take responsibility for a situation (along with the general meaning of “being worried” described in the previous section).

Mi preoccupo per  mia mamma anziana ogni giorno.
I worry about my elderly mother every day.

Marco si preoccupa sempre per i soldi.
Mark is always worrying about money.

Scusa per la faccia lunga; Mi preoccupo per il mio voto…
I am sorry for the long face; I am worrying about my grade…

…dopo l’ultimo esame; non voglio essere bocciato! 
…after the last exam; I don’t want to fail (be failed)!

 

An informal way an Italian might mention he or she is worrying about something is to use the combination [stare in pensiero + per + definite article + noun]. 

Sto in pensiero per la salute di mia mamma anziana.
I worry about/ am worrying about my elderly mother’s health.

Sto in pensiero per  il mio voto nell’ultimo esame.
I worry about/am worrying about my grade on the last exam.

 

The past participle of preoccupare is preoccupato. An Italian could  also use the past participle preoccupato(a) as an adjective to describe being worried about something with the phrase “essere preoccupato(a) per.” Finally, it is also possible to relay concern/worry about a situation by describing that you are “essere in pensiero per.” 

Additional examples for talking about one’s worries:

Maria è  preoccupata per la mamma anziana. 
Mary is  worried about her elderly mother.

Marco è preoccupato per il suo voto nell’ultimo esame.
Mark is worried about his grade on the last exam.

– or-

Maria è  in pensiero per la mamma anziana. 
Mary is  worried about her elderly mother.

Marco è in pensiero per il suo voto nell’ultimo esame.
Mark is worried about his grade on the last exam.

 

Although the focus of this section has been on the verbs preoccupare and preoccuparsi, it should be noted that the reflexive verb turbarsi also means to worry.  Turbarsi functions like preoccuparsi. The non-reflexive form is turbare, which means “to disturb” or “to upset.” 

See Part 4 of this blog series about emotions for the uses for tubarsi and tubare! 

Remember the ways to describe
worry and anxiety in Italian
for those days when you need someone to listen to your concerns!