# What do you want me to say?



## Girino

This should be simple but I'm never certain about using subjunctives.

Che vuoi che lo dica io?

and also:

Is this what you want me to tell him? 
> È quello che tu voglia che lo dica io?


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## Elisa68

_Che cosa vuoi che gli dica?_

_Vuoi che gli dica questo?_


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## max63

Girino said:
			
		

> This should be simple but I'm never certain about using subjunctives.
> 
> Che vuoi che lo dica io?
> 
> and also:
> 
> Is this what you want me to tell him?
> > È quello che tu voglia che lo dica io?


 
For the fist one Elisa gave you the best version. For the second one I may suggest: "E' questo ciò che vuoi che gli dica?" 
Bye
Max


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## Girino

Grazie amici. I guess I need to practice with indirect pronouns, too!


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## max63

Girino said:
			
		

> Grazie amici. I guess I need to practice with indirect pronouns, too!


 
Don't worry such phrases are really difficult for natives too!
Cheers!
Max


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## Girino

_
Che cosa vuoi che gli dica?_

_Vuoi che gli dica questo?_
_"E' questo ciò che vuoi che gli dica?_"

How would it change if wanted to say: What do you want to say to him" or "is this what you want to say to him?" Do I still need to use the subjunctive? If I do,  the subjunctive _dica_ is the same in first and second person, so how do I make clear who is speaking?

Che cosa vuoi diregli? or Che cosa vuoi che gli dica (tu?)


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## max63

The first version (with a small correction ) is the correct one: "Che cosa vuoi dirgli?"


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## winnie

Girino said:
			
		

> _Che cosa vuoi che gli dica?_
> 
> _Vuoi che gli dica questo?_
> _"E' questo ciò che vuoi che gli dica?_"
> 
> How would it change if wanted to say: What do you want to say to him" or "is this what you want to say to him?" Do I still need to use the subjunctive? If I do, the subjunctive _dica_ is the same in first and second person, so how do I make clear who is speaking?
> 
> Che cosa vuoi diregli? or Che cosa vuoi che gli dica (tu?)


 
What do you want to say to him? = (che) cosa vuoi dirgli? = (che) cosa vuoi dire a lui?
is this what you want to say to him? = è questo che vuoi dirgli? = è questo che vuoi dire a lui?


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## GaryD

Hi, grateful for some help for a recent starter to learning Italian. My friends are encouraging me and usually ask me to say something so I would like to reply 'what do you want me to say?' however given that 'mi' appears to mean both me and to me my initial thought of 'cosa vuole dirmi' appears to mean both that and 'what do you want to say _to me'_ so I suspect I have made a rookie mistake! 

Many thanks

GaryD


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## ElaineG

I would say: "Cosa vuoi (informal)/vuole (formale) che io dica?" Note that this gets into the dreaded subjunctive which you shouldn't have to worry about yet, so maybe someone else can think of a solution that doesn't involve the subjunctive!

"Cosa vuole dirmi?" is definitely "what do you (formal) want to say to me?"


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## combustion

GaryD said:
			
		

> Hi, grateful for some help for a recent starter to learning Italian. My friends are encouraging me and usually ask me to say something so I would like to reply 'what do you want me to say?' however given that 'mi' appears to mean both me and to me my initial thought of 'cosa vuole dirmi' appears to mean both that and 'what do you want to say _to me'_ so I suspect I have made a rookie mistake!
> 
> Many thanks
> 
> GaryD


It is a bit difficult to explain... the construction "want+me+infinitve" in italian is different, and you must translate it with two explicit sentence, main+relative (for example, in your case, "cosa vuoi che io dica"?)
Note please that the pronoun is "io", and it is used as the subject of a sentence. For the other complements you may use "me", "mi" with particles, for example:
tell me = dimmi (di' a me)
help me= aiutami
they are talking about me= stanno parlando di me
etc...

I hope I've been clear, sorry for my English (and welcome to the Forum!)
comb...


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## GaryD

comb... & Elaine, many thanks for the explaination; I think between the two I understand the answer. It appears to be more correctly translated as 'What do you want that I should say?'. Thanks for the clarification on the pronouns (actually where I live in the South West of England 'What do you want I to say?' is not an unheard of regional variation of the original).

Thanks again 

Gary


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## combustion

GaryD said:
			
		

> comb... & Elaine, many thanks for the explaination; I think between the two I understand the answer. It appears to be more correctly translated as *'What do you want that I should say?'*. Thanks for the clarification on the pronouns (actually where I live in the South West of England 'What do you want I to say?' is not an unheard of regional variation of the original).
> 
> Thanks again
> 
> Gary


 
 You've perfectly understood!
comb...


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## You little ripper!

Hi Gary,

I've heard the expression _Cosa vuoi che ti dica?_ a lot. _What do you want me to say_ *to you.* In English the *to you* is generally left out but in Italian it's quite common, or at least it was when I was in Italy last.


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## GaryD

Charles,
thanks for the info - I see the first (i.e. with io) as the reply I was after in the situation where a friend asks me to say something in Italian, your suggestion will be useful next time my wife asks me why I have been watching TV and not attending to her list of 'things to do' - an equivalent of 'I don't know what to tell you!' 

Cheers

Gary


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## You little ripper!

> Charles,
> thanks for the info


You're welcome.


> your suggestion will be useful next time my wife asks me why I have been watching TV and not attending to her list of 'things to do' - an equivalent of 'I don't know what to tell you!'


Are you trying to tell me that you'll be using it a lot then?


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## GaryD

Charles Costante said:
			
		

> You're welcome.
> 
> Are you trying to tell me that you'll be using it a lot then?


 
Put it this way - I have managed to get a day off work today and what am I doing? _Cosa vuoi che ti dica?  _


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## ratto

What do you want me to say?
Potete tradurla per cortesia?Grazie a voi.


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## kan3malato

ratto said:
			
		

> What do you want me to say?
> Potete tradurla per cortesia?Grazie a voi.


Ciao
As far as I know,it should be:
Cosa vuoi che dica?


ps
But wait.. power users


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## fran06

I agree!!!
It definitely means "_Cosa vuoi che ti dica_"

Ciao


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## ratto

Grazie a voi,


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## photodp

Ciao a tutti!  

I am trying to translate the two sentences "What do you want me to say?" and "I can't say that"  for when my friends ask me to speak some Italian.  I thought I had it figured out, but the more I looked at it the more uncertain I was.  These are my attempts:

What do you want me to say?
Che cosa vuoi me dire?  

I can't say that.
Non dire questo.

Are those horribly incorrect?


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## Murphy

photodp said:


> Ciao a tutti!
> 
> I am trying to translate the two sentences "What do you want me to say?" and "I can't say that" for when my friends ask me to speak some Italian. I thought I had it figured out, but the more I looked at it the more uncertain I was. These are my attempts:
> 
> What do you want me to say?
> Che cosa vuoi me dire?
> Che cosa vuoi che (io) dica
> 
> I can't say that.
> Non dire questo. - This means "Don't say that!"
> Non posso dire questo.
> 
> Are those horribly incorrect?


You chose a difficult one for your first sentence, as the Italian verb "volere" doesn't work the same way as the English "want". Effectively, you have to say "what do you want that I say", using the subjunctive form of the verb "say".


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## SuperGaara

Not so horribly 

What do you want me to say? = (Che) cosa vuoi che (io) dica?

The second sentence confuses me a bit. By "I can't say that" do you mean "I'm not able to say that"? If so:

I can't say that = Non so dirlo


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## photodp

Grazie.

Si, "I can't say that" meaning I am not able to say that.  Do, "non so dirlo" and "non posso dire questo" mean the same thing?  As in, "my skill level isnt good enough to say that yet..."  kind of meaning?

You are right, volere and dire are two of the verbs I have the most trouble with, currently.  I am just now learning about volere...


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## SuperGaara

No, they don't mean the same thing!

"Non so dirlo" = "I'm not able to say it/that"

"Non posso dire questo" = "I cannot say this / I'm not allowed to say this"


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## photodp

I see!

Grazie a tutti!


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## SuperGaara

Prego


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## TylerDurden1133

How do you say "What do you want me to say"? Is Congiuntivo must be used in this context?

My attempt : "Che vuoi che io dica"

Grazile mille.


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## Paulfromitaly

TylerDurden1133 said:


> How do you say "What do you want me to say"? Is Congiuntivo must be used in this context?
> 
> My attempt : "Che vuoi che (io) dica?"
> 
> Grazile mille.



Perfect


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## ElFrikiChino

It means the same, but *cosa vuoi che dica?* sounds more natural to me.


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## em13

Si "cosa vuoi che dica?" suona meglio anche a me. E a dire la verità "Cosa vuoi che *ti* dica?" ancora meglio.


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