Speaking Italian
How to describe something in Italian when you don't know the word
If you are in the chair right now
Non so come si chiama, ma serve per stringere le viti.
I don't know what it's called, but it's used for tightening screws.
If that gets brushed off
È di metallo, grande più o meno così.
It's metal, about this big.
«Serve per» plus a verb is the master key: name the function and the noun becomes optional. And «coso» is not defeat — it is the placeholder Italians themselves run errands on, daily.
Sooner or later you need an object whose name you do not know in any language — the thing for the thing. Phrasebooks cannot help, because the whole point is that the word is missing. What helps is a pattern, and Italian's is a pleasure to use.
If you need more than one line
neutral
Serve per aprire le lattine.
It's for opening cans. Serve per + infinitive — function first, always.
neutral
È tipo un cucchiaio, ma più piatto.
It's like a spoon, but flatter. Tipo — the everyday hedge Italians drop into every second sentence.
neutral
Quel coso per pulire i vetri.
That thing for cleaning windows. Coso — the universal placeholder, used without shame across Italy.
firmest
Come si chiama questo in italiano?
What's this called in Italian? Ask once they've guessed it — the word you fought for is the one you keep.
Two things worth knowing
This is a skill, not a vocabulary list, which is why almost nobody teaches it.
Function beats appearance
«Serve per aprire le bottiglie» finds the corkscrew faster than any description of its shape, because the shopkeeper searches the shelves by use, not by looks. Lead with serve per and what it does; size and material — «più o meno così», with your hands apart — can wait for the questions, which is also the order they will arrive in.
«Coso» is a real word, and Italians love it
Italian keeps an official-feeling placeholder for objects it cannot name: il coso, plus aggeggio when it has moving parts. Neither marks you as a learner — «passami quel coso» is said in every Italian kitchen daily. Reaching for «quel coso per…» sounds like someone at home in the language talking around a gap, which is exactly what you are practising.
What Lorenzo actually said
What you have to get done
- Explain what the item does
- Talk about its size and material
- Check when they get it right
Lorenzo
Good morning! What are you looking for today?
You
Good morning! I'm looking for a tool for tightening or loosening a part without damaging it, but unfortunately I don't know its name.
Lorenzo
I see: it could be a small pair of pliers; I have a medium-sized one to show you.
You
Gladly, will you show me? I'd like to know what it's made of and whether the size suits a medium-sized part.
Lorenzo
Of course: these pliers are steel and medium-sized, suited to medium-sized parts.
You
Perfect, that's exactly the kind of tool I was looking for: I'll take it.
Lorenzo
Here it is — thank you and have a good day!
The whole conversation, unedited
A real run in the app, nothing scripted on the shopkeeper's side. The transcript above is taken from this recording, and the objectives tick off on screen as they are met.
Turn sound on to hear it.
Now say it yourself
Reading that is not the same as producing it with someone waiting, which is the entire difficulty. You can have this exact conversation in the app: Lorenzo is a third of the way through, and you have three things to get done.
It is free, it takes about a minute to start, and the first attempt is allowed to be terrible.
Practise this conversation
