How to say finally in Italian?
How do you say finally in Italian? The short answer is Finalmente! The word carries a sense of joy. This feeling of happiness behind it does not apply to the English equivalent. It is as if the speaker has a yearning for what finally happened.
Finalmente derives from the Italian word “fine.” And it would be profitable to study some of its derivatives.
La fine
La fine, in Italian, is feminine when it indicates where or when something ends in space or time.
For example:
When we give an address
Il ristorante si trova alla fine della strada. – The restaurant is located at the end of the street.
When we refer to a time:
Prima della fine dell’anno voglio leggere i libri che mi hai consigliato. – Before the end of the year I want to read the books you advised me.
Usciamo insieme il prossimo fine settimana? – Shall we go out together next weekend?
Note: Il fine Settimana – the weekend. The expression for the weekend is a phrase that does not change.
Adoro passare i fine settimana al mare. – I love spending weekends by the sea.
La fine / Il finale
When somebody is going to present a conclusion, they have two words in Italian. They can either use la fine or il finale.
La fine del film non mi è piaciuta – The end of the film did not please me.
Il finale del film è triste – The end of the film is sad.
La finale / Il fine
La finale, in feminine, is the final event of a competition:
La finale della Champions League. – the final of the Champions League.
La finale di Eurovision. – The Eurovision final.
Note: Il fine, in the masculine, is synonymous with purpose or objective. For example, there is a famous sentence attributed to Machiavelli. The idea behind the sentence is wrong. But since it is so popular, I will mention it here:
Il fine giustifica i mezzi. – The end justifies the means.
You may think we do not have to turn in a report for our actions. But we will. So, the end does not justify the means.
Infine
“Infine” (English “finally”) serves to describe a sequence of events:
Vado a lavoro, faccio la spesa e infine torno a casa. – I go to work, do the shopping and finally come home.
Or to indicate a promise or a goal to achieve, the last in a long list:
Chiediamo, infine, la partecipazione diretta dei cittadini. – And finally, we ask for the direct participation of citizens.
Alla fine
Alla fine has an equivalent in English, “in the end”:
Alla fine chi ha vinto la partita. – In the end, who won the game?
Alla fine vieni con noi o rimani in casa? – In the end, are you coming with us or staying at home?
Or to indicate an event (often with a negative nuance) that occurs after a long wait:
Dopo una lunga malattia, alla fine è morto. – After a long illness, finally, he died.
Finally, the one that we have all been waiting for:
Finalmente
The Italian adverb “finally” has an optimistic nuance of joy and hope. We wish that it also had that meaning implicitly in English. Here are some examples of the word Finalmente in sentences.
Finalmente è arrivato il fine settimana. – Finally, the weekend has arrived!
Oggi vado in vacanza! Finalmente! – Today I’m going on vacation! Finally!
Wrapping Up!
You have finally reached the end of this post. And I hope the positive feeling that the word Finalmente transmits is also part of you. Have you been learning Italian? What do you think about the process? Incorporating Italian into your day is paramount for learning a language. Have you considered listening to podcasts in Italian? Here is a course that has a podcast-style approach. Click here to check it out. It’s the best way to listen to Italian all day!
