What do you mean?-Che cosa vuoi dire?
If someone provides you with an explanation but you struggle to understand the meaning behind their words, it is only natural to ask the question: What do you mean?
One way to express this in Italian is with the phrase Che cosa vuoi dire? which, word-for-word, can be translated as What do you want to say?
Italian example: Che cosa vuoi dire?
English exaample: What do you mean?
Italian example:Stavo pensando a te.
English exaample: I was thinking of you.
Che cosa is the combination of the words che and cosa and together they mean “What?” However, in more informal situations, you will hear these words used individually as an interrogative. Che on its own is more prolific in central and southern Italy, whereas cosa is heard more in the north and Sardinia.
Che cosa vuoi dire? = What do you mean? (more formal, used everywhere)
Che vuoi dire? = What do you mean? (central and southern Italy)
Cosa vuoi dire? = What do you mean? (northern Italy and Sardinia)
Vuoi is the second-person singular of the modal verb volere meaning “to want / to wish”. If you were to change it to the third-person singular vuole, you’d end up with the very useful phrase:
Italian example:Che cosa vuol(e) dire?
English exaample: What does it mean?
Finally we come to dire which means “to say / to tell” in Italian.
Another possible way to word this phrase is by using the verb intendere which means “to intend“. However it will give the phrase an even more formal tone. You can also add di preciso, which means exactly, to add extra emphasis.
Italian example:Che cosa intendi (di preciso)?
English exaample: What do you mean (exactly)?
