che ne dici?
The Italian phrase for "what do you say?" is che ne dici?
This phrase is used to ask for someone's opinion or agreement regarding a suggestion. While the English "what do you say?" can sometimes be a literal question about someone's words, the Italian che ne dici? is almost exclusively used to propose an idea and seek agreement.
What does it mean word for word?
Literally, che ne dici? means "what of it do you say?", consisting of che (what), ne (about it/of it) and dici (you say).
Which one should you use?
Use che ne dice? when addressing a stranger or using a formal tone. If you are addressing a group of people, use che ne dite?
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
For formal settings or when addressing a stranger, use the third-person singular form che ne dice? Another formal option to ask "What do you think?" is Che ne pensa? In an informal context, if you want to ask "What do you say?" or "What are you saying?", you might use Cosa dici?
How does it change in a sentence?
When addressing a group of people, you must change the verb from the singular dici to the plural dite to form che ne dite?
Did you know?
- Italian speakers often accompany che ne dici? with a slight shrug or a tilted head to soften the suggestion and make it more of a tentative proposal than a direct question.
- The particle ne actually derives from the Latin word 'inde', which originally meant 'from that place' or 'from there'. It has traveled a long linguistic road from a physical direction to a grammatical pronoun.
- If you want to sound much more professional or respectful to an elder, you must switch the verb to the third-person singular che ne dice? This effectively treats the person you are asking as 'he' or 'she' to maintain social distance.
Examples in context
- Buongiorno, signori. Cosa dite della nuova mostra d'arte?Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. What do you say about the new art exhibition?
- Ciao, Marco! Cosa dici di andare al cinema stasera?Hi, Marco! What do you say about going to the movies tonight?
- Andiamo al cinema stasera, che ne dici?Let's go to the cinema tonight, what do you say?
- Ordiniamo una pizza, che ne dici?Shall we order a pizza, what do you say?
- Potremmo andare al mare domani, che ne dici?We could go to the seaside tomorrow, what do you say?
Example conversation
Martina and Alessandro are deciding what to do for lunch.
- MartinaMangiamo in quel nuovo ristorante, che ne dici?Let's eat at that new restaurant, what do you say?
- AlessandroOttima idea, mi va molto bene.Great idea, that sounds good to me.
- MartinaTi passo a prendere io alle dodici.I will pick you up at twelve.
- AlessandroPerfetto, a dopo allora!Perfect, see you later then!
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries che, ne, CC BY-SA 4.0.
