comportarsi bene
/kom.porˈtar.si ˈbɛ.ne/word by word
The English phrase behave can be translated into Italian as comportarsi bene.
The phrase is used to describe acting in a polite or proper way. While the verb comportarsi can be used alone to mean 'to behave' or 'to conduct oneself' in a general sense, adding bene specifies that the behavior is good/polite.
Meaning: to act in a polite or proper way (verb)
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase comportarsi bene is composed of the reflexive verb comportarsi (to behave oneself) and the adverb bene (well).
How does it change in a sentence?
To express the opposite of behaving well, replace bene with male to say comportarsi male (to behave badly).
What mistakes should you avoid?
English speakers often forget the reflexive pronoun and use comportare instead of comportarsi. However, comportare means 'to entail' or 'to involve' and cannot be used to mean 'to behave'.
Did you know?
- If you tell a child fai il bravo, you are telling them to 'be good' or 'behave'. This is a much more common way to command a child to behave than using the verb comportarsi.
- In Italian, the concept of behaving is tied to the reflexive verb comportarsi, which literally means 'to carry oneself'. This suggests that good behavior is an act of managing one's own presence.
- While comportarsi bene describes behavior, Italians might use the word educazione to describe the trait of being well-behaved. To say someone 'has good manners' is to say they hanno una buona educazione.
Examples in context
- Mary deve comportarsi bene.Mary must behave herself.This sentence is useful for showing how to say Mary must behave herself with comportarsi bene.Tatoeba #12560678 by Guybrush88, translation #6429198 by CF
- Le disse di comportarsi bene.He told her to behave herself.This sentence is useful for showing how to say He told her to behave herself with comportarsi bene.Tatoeba #8965823 by Guybrush88, translation #8535555 by CH
- Le chiese di comportarsi bene.He asked her to behave herself.This sentence is useful for showing how to say He asked her to behave herself with comportarsi bene.Tatoeba #9706374 by Guybrush88, translation #8535557 by CH
- Si comporti, per favore.Please behave
- Non fare il pazzo!Don't act crazy!
- 21 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Parents talking about their son before a party.
- FrancescoSpero che nostro figlio sappia comportarsi bene.I hope our son knows how to behave.
- MartinaSì, gli ho spiegato tutto stamattina.Yes, I explained everything to him this morning.
- FrancescoÈ importante che continui a comportarsi bene.It is important that he continues to behave.
- MartinaNon ti preoccupare, Francesco, andrà tutto bene.Don't worry, Francesco, everything will be fine.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “behave” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- IPA marked “word by word” joins the Wiktionary pronunciations of each word (comportarsi, bene) and can differ in connected speech.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
