# Strada facendo



## nutella

hi everyone, glad to have just found this forum!

i'm trying to find the english translation/usage for "strada facendo."  i know the phrase from the claudio baglioni song, and i'm taking it to mean "along the way."  is this correct?  if so, i'm still not sure how to use it.  can i say, i was walking down the street the other day, and "strada facendo" i saw x, y and z?  please help me to understand!

thanks in advance for your help!


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## F4sT

ciau,


> i'm still not sure how to use it


volevo fare solo qualche esempio:
"ti dirò tutto strada facendo"
"capirai strada facendo"


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## Alfry

strada facendo means while you are walking or simply walking

strada facendo troverai un gancio in mezzo al cielo
while you'll be walking you'll find a hook in the middle of the sky


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## lsp

F4sT said:
			
		

> ciau,
> 
> volevo fare solo qualche esempio:
> "ti dirò tutto strada facendo"
> "capirai strada facendo"


I'd say these mean:
I'll tell you everything, all in good time
You'll understand in time.

Is this a more idiomatic usage, in addition to Alfry's explanation of "while walking"?


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## Alfry

Si lsp,
potrebbe avere un significato idiomatico.

strada facendo meaning vivendo, con il tempo


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## nutella

wow, thanks for all the responses!  i believe i understand now


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## alahay

besides walking it could be said while you're still on the road on your way to some other place, in a transportation vehicle (car, bus, train...).


e.g. 
A: Where are you? When are you coming?
B: I'm on my way!

A: Dove sei? Quando vieni?
B: Sto strada facendo!


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## ElaineG

> Dove sei? Quando vieni?
> B: Sto strada facendo!


 
Sei sicuro? Non l'ho mai sentito, e ormai so bene che sei molto creativo, *Alahay*. 

direi "sto arrivando" o "arrivo subito" o ....  

Ma è molto probabile che abbia ragione; aspettiamo gli italiani.


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## Elisa68

In realta' non l'ho mai sentito neanche io. Puoi dire "sono per strada" in quel caso.
Strada facendo viene usato essenzialmente come indicato nei post #5 e #6.


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## alahay

boh! e quello che era nel treno e stava parlando al cellulare dicendo "sto srada facendo...arrivo a bologna fra un oretta" in che senso stava strada facendo?


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## lsp

alahay said:
			
		

> boh! e quello che era nel treno e stava parlando al cellulare dicendo "sto srada facendo...arrivo a bologna fra un oretta" in che senso stava strada facendo?


Sto strafacendo? I'm overdoing it?


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## alahay

cercate "strada facendo" su google images e troverete anche foto prese dalle macchine, foto di barche...ecc 

ecco il link a google images


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## ElaineG

> cercate "strada facendo" su google images e troverete anche foto prese dalle macchine, foto di barche...ecc
> 
> ecco il link a google images


 
C'e anche le nuvole, un cane, una casa, il Papa ecc.  Non sono ancora convinta


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## lsp

alahay said:
			
		

> cercate "strada facendo" su google images e troverete anche foto prese dalle macchine, foto di barche...ecc
> 
> ecco il link a google images


huh?  you lost me... what do you mean to say with this post?


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## alahay

lsp said:
			
		

> huh?  you lost me... what do you mean to say with this post?


I was attempting to reinforce my claim about the existence of another meaning for "strada facendo" but I guess I'm going to give up on it now that the italians have never heard of it and others have the impression that I'm being creative! 



			
				ElaineG said:
			
		

> C'e anche le nuvole, un cane, una casa, il Papa ecc.  Non sono ancora convinta


essi'! quelli simboleggiano il corso della vita (post # 5)


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## leenico

alahay said:
			
		

> cercate "strada facendo" su google images e troverete anche foto prese dalle macchine, foto di barche...ecc
> 
> ecco il link a google images


La prima pagina, vedo solo una nava. Anche vedo un foto del papa con qualcuno. Non vedo macchine, e barche.  Cosa vuoi dire?


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## lanave

alahay said:
			
		

> boh! e quello che era nel treno e stava parlando al cellulare dicendo "sto srada facendo...arrivo a bologna fra un oretta" in che senso stava strada facendo?


 
If he has said "sto strada facendo", he was wrong. Are you sure he said that? Generally the correct way to say "I'm on my way", "I'm coming" is "sto per strada". As Elisa68 said.

oh, yes! Hi, I'm a new (Italian) user.


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## Alfry

alahay said:
			
		

> I was attempting to reinforce my claim about the existence of another meaning for "strada facendo" but I guess I'm going to give up on it now that the italians have never heard of it and others have the impression that I'm being creative!


 
never give up.

strada facendo potrebbe essere usato in vari contesti...

non-idiomatic example:
figlio:  "Papà mi spieghi cosa è un arcobaleno?"
padre: "vieni con me a comprare il latte e te lo spiego strada facendo." (meaning while we are walking to the supermarket)

idiamatic-example:
figlio: "...e come nascono i bambini?"
padre: "tu fai troppe domande... questo lo scoprirai strada facendo ... " (  ) meaning vivendo, crescendo, diventando grande (living)


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## ElaineG

> strada facendo potrebbe essere usato in vari contesti...


 
*Alfry*, su questo siamo d'accordo.  Il dibattito era: Si dice "Sto strada facendo?" (per "Sto per la strada", "sto arrivando").  Mi sembrava strano, ma *Alahay *l'ho sentito a Bologna. Forse è una cosa regionale. Che ne dici?


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## lanave

No, I would not say it's regional. That expression is a mistake in the Italian language. The person who was speaking probably made a mistake mixing up "sto per strada" and "strada facendo".


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## Alfry

Si infatti
non credo che sia regionale. lanave ha ragione.

io direi 
sono già in strada
sto già arrivando
arrivo...
ed altre espressioni
ma non direi mai sto strada facendo... anche perchè significherebbe altro

sto strada facendo... o molto meglio... sto facendo strada... significa sto andando avanti facendomi seguire da qualcuno che non conosce la strada...


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## ElaineG

Grazie mille, *alfry.   *


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## alahay

Alfry said:
			
		

> non-idiomatic example:
> figlio:  "Papà mi spieghi cosa è un arcobaleno?"
> padre: "vieni con me a comprare il latte e te lo spiego strada facendo." (meaning while we are *walking* to the supermarket)



Quindi, dev'essere camminando (*a piedi*) e non si puo' strada fare ne' con la bici ne' con la macchina...non sono convinto ma se voi lo dite che ci posso fare io? vabbeh, solo potete aiutarmi a diffondere l'uso stradale generale di questa espressione, perche da quando l'ho sentita mi e' rimasta nella mente perche aveva molto senso! usatela, e vedrete che verrete capiti 

grazie Alfry!


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## moodywop

alahay said:
			
		

> Quindi, dev'essere camminando (*a piedi*) e non si puo' strada fare ne' con la bici ne' con la macchina...non sono convinto ma se voi lo dite che ci posso fare io? vabbeh, solo potete aiutarmi a diffondere l'uso stradale generale di questa espressione, perche da quando l'ho sentita mi e' rimasta nella mente perche aveva molto senso! usatela, e vedrete che verrete capiti
> 
> grazie Alfry!


 
Alahay

I think there is a basic misunderstanding(Elaine already pointed this out in post #20). It doesn't have to be _a piedi. Strada facendo _simply means _on the way, while going/coming/driving/riding/cycling (home/to work/to school/into town...anywhere, really)._

What Alfry, Elisa and the others are saying is that it is used on its own, usually at the beginning of a sentence, but also at the end:

_Strada facendo ho visto un terribile incidente_

_Ho visto un terribile incidente, strada facendo_

But you can't use it with a continuous tense, i.e with a subject + to be. The above example can be re-written as _Mentre stavo tornando a casa/andando al lavoro/andando in palestra ecc._

And don't forget that just because you hear something from a native speaker it is necessarily right. What you heard may have been a genuine mistake or just a slip of the tongue. Here are a few bloopers I've heard myself from native speakers:

_ho portato mio figlio da un luminario _(*luminare *- a top specialist) _della medicina_

_questa è convivenza (*connivenza*) con i terroristi!_

Carlo


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## alahay

Ahh! Carlo, that says it all! ora posso vivere la mia vita...

vi chiedo scusa per la confusione!


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## zephyronica

I'm pretty aware the thread is a little bit old, but I was looking for a better translation of "strada facendo" and I stumbled upon wordrefence as usual: it could be possible to say "during the process" if we are talking about something you have learned doing one process time after time?

"How do you do that, Zephy?"
"It's easy, I've learned some tips and tricks during the process"

Thanks in advance and nice to meet you!


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## theartichoke

zephyronica said:


> "How do you do that, Zephy?"
> "It's easy, I've learned some tips and tricks during the process"



Hi Zephy, and welcome, 

To me, that use of "during the process" sounds as if the speaker has done "the process" once, not multiple times. "Over the course of [doing something]" seems closer to what you're looking for. "Along the way" is also a possibility, and stands on its own without further details, unlike "over the course of.....". As with everything, though, the most idiomatic way of expressing what you want to say would probably depend on what kind of process we're talking about.


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## zephyronica

theartichoke said:


> Hi Zephy, and welcome,
> 
> To me, that use of "during the process" sounds as if the speaker has done "the process" once, not multiple times. "Over the course of [doing something]" seems closer to what you're looking for. "Along the way" is also a possibility, and stands on its own without further details, unlike "over the course of.....". As with everything, though, the most idiomatic way of expressing what you want to say would probably depend on what kind of process we're talking about.




Hi theartichoke, nice to meet you!

Reading your answer I think in my case the better translation could be "along the way", because the dialogue above was about showing someone else something that Zephy has learned doing it time after time (baking, cooking, driving, sewing and so on).

Thanks a lot!!


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## theartichoke

zephyronica said:


> Reading your answer I think in my case the better translation could be "along the way", because the dialogue above was about showing someone else something that Zephy has learned doing it time after time (baking, cooking, driving, sewing and so on).



In that case, "over time" or "over the years" is probably even more natural than "along the way."


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## ain'ttranslationfun?

"as I went along"? In general (= in most contexts that I can imagine) , this or "along the way" sounds OK to me.

Added after reading #29: I'd say "years" may be too specific without further context.


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## zephyronica

theartichoke said:


> In that case, "over time" or "over the years" is probably even more natural than "along the way."




Even better! 
I was looking for something lesser "serious" than "over the years", because "over the years" soundsto me  like something a teacher could say, and we're talking about two friends.  I'd like to reproduce an easy atmosphere between the two ladies.
Thanks a lot!



ain'ttranslationfun? said:


> "as I went along"? In general (= in most contexts that I can imagine) , this or "along the way" sounds OK to me.



Thanks a lot!


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## theartichoke

ain'ttranslationfun? said:


> Added after reading #29: I'd say "years" may be too specific without further context.



Well, yes: you'd have to have been doing whatever it is for actual years.  It doesn't strike me as particularly "serious," though: _I've learned some tricks, over the years, for making a really great ragu_ is something one could easily say to a friend.


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## metazoan

A slightly different but common phrase is, "I've learned by doing" (especially if the question were "How did you learn that, Zephy?").
This would emphasize that you've had (almost) no training. Similar responses: "I'm self-taught" or "I taught myself".


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## ain'ttranslationfun?

Yes, "over time", too (missed that in my last post). [Do note, though, that here we must write "over time" in two words, as "overtime" means "straordinari" (more that 40 hours/week).]

Much later addendum: and in some cases more than 8 hours/day.


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