You’re mid-sentence in Italian. You’re feeling almost fluent, confident, the conversation is flowing. Then suddenly you stop because you’re missing one word. It’s the worst feeling, isn’t it?
One of my students was telling me how frustrated he felt after a trip to his local Italian deli. He walked in fully prepared to order, but the moment he got to the counter, he froze because he didn’t know the specific word for things like “jar” or “slice.” So, he switched straight back to English, rushed his order to avoid holding up the line, and walked away.
The problem here is not the memory. It’s the mindset. You are never going to know the whole Italian dictionary. That’s not the goal! Not even native speakers know all the words in the dictionary. The key is how you react when you don’t know a word. In English, you instinctively find another way to say what you mean. In Italian, you panic. And that’s what we need to fix.
In this guide, I’ll share 3 simple strategies to do exactly that. By the end, you’ll know how to say anything in Italian even if you don’t know the word for it. And trust me, when you get good at this, the other person won’t even notice you didn’t know the “perfect” word.
Pronti? Cominciamo! (Ready? Let’s get started!).
Table of Contents
- Strategy #1: Use “power phrases” to ask for help
- Strategy #1: Pretend You’re playing Taboo or Charades
- Strategy #3: Use Italian filler words to buy time
- Bonus Strategy: Adopt the 80/20 mindset
TL;DR: 3 Simple Strategies to Say ANYTHING in Italian (Quick Summary)
Freezing mid-sentence in Italian isn’t a vocabulary problem. It’s a reaction problem. You’re never going to know every Italian word and you don’t need to. What matters is how you keep the conversation going when a word disappears. In this guide, you’ll learn 3 simple, realistic strategies that Italians themselves use, so you can say anything in Italian, even without the “perfect” word.
Here’s what you’ll be able to do:
🧩 Strategy 1: Use “power phrases” to ask for help (without panicking)
These essential Italian phrases let you stay in Italian and learn the word on the spot:
- Come si dice ___ in italiano? – How do you say ___ in Italian?
- Come si chiama questa / quella cosa? – What is this/that thing called?
- In inglese si dice ___… come si dice in italiano? – In English you say ___… how do you say it in Italian?
👉 You sound curious and confident, not stuck or apologetic.
🎭 Strategy 2: Play Taboo or Charades (talk around the word)
When the word is gone, describe it using simple Italian:
- Un pezzo piccolo / sottile – a small / thin piece
- Quella cosa di vetro – that glass thing
- È come una bottiglia – it’s like a bottle
Add hand gestures, comparisons, and basic adjectives. This is called un giro di parole in Italian and native speakers do it all the time.
⏳ Strategy 3: Use filler words to buy thinking time
These natural Italian filler phrases keep the rhythm going while your brain catches up:
- Allora… – well / so…
- Dunque… – well…
- Vediamo… – let’s see…
- Sai… – you know…
- Fammi pensare… – let me think…
- Aspetta un attimo… – wait a second…
👉 You never stop speaking, which is what creates confidence.
🔑 Bonus: the 80/20 mindset
Fluency isn’t knowing all the words. It’s mastering the 20% of Italian phrases and strategies that give you 80% of real conversations. With these 3 tools, you can:
- keep conversations flowing
- sound natural and relaxed
- speak Italian even when vocabulary runs out
You don’t need the word. You need this strategy based on my 80/20 method to learn Italian so fast it feels like cheating.
Strategy #1: Use “Italian Power Phrases” to ask for help
Your first secret weapon is a set of “power phrases.” These are simple, ready-to-go sentences that keep the conversation flowing and make you sound fluent, even if you are stuck and asking for help.
Here are the three best ones you can use:
1. Come si dice [English word] in italiano?
(KOH-meh see DEE-cheh [English word] een ee-tah-LYAH-no?)
Meaning: How do you say [English word] in Italian?
When the exact word you need pops into your head, but only in English, just use it in this phrase and keep going. Remember the student in the deli story? Instead of panicking because he forgot the word for “slice,” he could have easily used the English word and asked:
- Come si dice “slice” in italiano?—How do you say “slice” in Italian?
The vendor would have given him the Italian word (fetta), and the conversation would have kept going.
2. Come si chiama questa / quella cosa in italiano?
(KOH-meh see KYAH-mah KWEH-stah / KWEHL-lah KOH-zah een ee-tah-LYAH-noh?)
Meaning: What is this / that thing called in Italian?
Sometimes, you can literally see the object you need, but the word is still missing. In such case, just point and ask what it’s called:
- Use questa (this) for something close to you.
- Use quella (that) for something distant.
Say you are at the market and want to buy that beautiful, unfamiliar vegetable you see on the counter (a zucchini flower). Just point and ask: Come si chiama questa cosa in italiano?—What is that thing called in Italian?
This is a wonderful technique: you get the word (fiore di zucca), and you avoid having to struggle with a complicated description.
3. In inglese si dice [English word]… come si dice in italiano?
(Een een-GLAY-zeh see DEE-cheh [English word]… KOH-meh see DEE-cheh een ee-tah-LYAH-no?)
Meaning: In English you say [English word]… how do you say it in Italian?
This is my personal favourite because it’s slightly more conversational and it buys you a bit more thinking time. With it, you are basically creating an immediate, clear connection between the two languages for the native speaker.
So, back to the deli example, if he’d forgotten the word for “jar,” he could have said:
- In inglese si dice “jar”… come si dice in italiano?—In English you say “jar”… how do you say it in Italian?
Attenzione: When you use these phrases, don’t feel embarrassed or whisper them like you’ve done something wrong. Say them with curiosity; you’re not failing, you’re learning in real time. And Italians are usually very kind and genuinely appreciate the effort you’re making to speak their language, so using this trick can actually be fun! And if a helpful Italian switches to English when you ask, just smile, say Grazie (Thank you), and switch back to Italian if you feel ready.
Strategy 2: Pretend You’re Playing Taboo or Charades
The next incredibly effective way to say anything in Italian when you don’t know the word is wonderfully simple: describe the thing you don’t know as if you were playing a game of Taboo.
Seriously, it works. Just be a little creative, using the words you do know (like simple verbs, adjectives, shapes, or colours) to explain what you need. It’s actually fun, and Italians will love guessing the clues.
And here is a little secret: native speakers do this too! They use what they call un giro di parole (literally: “a turn of words,” or talking around the word) whenever they forget a word. See, you are not failing… you’re actually speaking exactly like an Italian!
So, let’s go back to our deli example to see how this works in real life. Imagine you want a “slice” of pizza, but when it’s your turn to order, your mind goes blank and can’t think of the word. No problem, you can describe it with simple Italian words like:
- Un pezzo piccolo—A small piece
- Un pezzo sottile—A thin piece
You aren’t using the “perfect” word, but the person behind the counter will definitely understand what you want.
Now, what about that tricky word “jar” (barattolo)? If you can’t remember it, just simplify and compare it to something you do know, like:
- Quella cosa di vetro.—That glass thing.
- È come una bottiglia.—It’s like a bottle.
And here’s a trick: use your hands! Italians are famous for talking with hand gestures, so pretend you’re playing a game of charades and mime the shape of a jar, or show a thin slice with your fingers close together. You won’t look silly, you’ll actually look more Italian!You can combine your words and your hands like this:
- Vorrei una cosa così [mime a circle/cylinder shape with hands]… di vetro…”—I would like a thing like this… made of glass…
- Vorrei una cosa così [mime the shape of a triangle]… di pizza…”—I would like a thing like this… of pizza.
Strategy #3: Use Italian filler words to buy time
Italians use filler words whenever they’re unsure what to say next or simply need a moment to think. And that’s exactly the third trick you’re going to use too.Filler words are small, simple expressions that don’t mean much on their own, but they keep the rhythm of the conversation going while your brain looks for the right word. They make you sound natural, relaxed, and surprisingly confident, like you’ve been speaking Italian for years!
Here are some great ones to use when you are stuck:
Allora… (ah-LOH-rah) — Well… / So…
If you only learn one filler word in Italian, make it this one! It’s the most used, and you can even stretch it out like Allllllora to buy more time while your brain finds the vocabulary. It’s great in situations when you’re being asked for a decision or a choice, like:
- A: Desidera altro? — Would you like anything else?
- B: Sì, allora… un etto di prosciutto crudo. — Yeah, so… a hundred grams of dry cured ham.
Dunque… (DOON-kweh) — Well…
This filler word is a little bit more formal and fancier than allora. It works well when you need a moment to recall a specific word from your memory bank, for instance:
- A: Da bere cosa vi porto? — What can I get you to drink?
- B: Dunque… vorrei… un vino mosso. — Well… I’d like… a sparkling wine.
Vediamo… (veh-dee-AH-mo) — Let’s see…
This comes in handy when you’re literally looking around for something, scanning shelves and checking items while searching your memory for the right word.
- A: Che cosa le do?—What should I give you?
- B: Vediamo… ah, ecco, le bistecche di pollo.—Let’s see… ah, right, chicken cutlets.
Sai… (SAH-ee) — You know…
You can use this filler word when you are looking for a term that you feel the listener is already familiar with, like:
- A: Cosa stai cercando?—What are you looking for?
- B: Quella cosa… sai… per cambiare la televisione.— That thing… you know… to change the television.
- A: Il telecomando!—The remote!
Fammi pensare… (FAHM-mee pen-SAH-reh) — Let me think…
This phrase is the most natural way to buy yourself a moment when you need time to think.
- A: Cosa ci serve per fare le frittelle?—What do we need to make the fritters?
- B: Farina, latte e… fammi pensare…ah, le uova!—Flour, milk, and… let me think… oh, eggs!
Aspetta un attimo… (ah-SPEH-tah oon AHT-tee-moh) — Wait a second…
This is another useful filler phrase when to let the other person know that you need a minute to think or find your words.
- A: Dove hai messo le chiavi?—Where did you put the keys?
- B: Sono su… Aspetta un attimo… sono sul comodino.—They are on… wait a second… they are on the nightstand.
See how well these words work? In every example, you never stop speaking Italian. You sound confident, natural, and most importantly, you keep the conversation flowing while giving your brain those few seconds it sometimes needs to find the right word.
Strategy #4: Bonus Strategy: Adopt the 80/20 mindset
So, why focus on strategies instead of giving you long lists of words to memorize? Because real fluency isn’t measured by how many words you know. It’s about having the right tools to communicate confidently when the words inevitably run out. As someone who learned Italian as an adult, I know how freezing mid-sentence can steal your confidence, and I want to eliminate it.
This is the foundation of my 80/20 method. The idea is simple: 80% of your conversational success comes from mastering just 20% of the language that really matters. What we’ve learned today— power phrases, treating it like a game of Taboo or Charades, and filler words—is part of that crucial 20% of effort that delivers 80% of your results.
This approach is at the very heart of all my Intrepid Italian courses. I use the 80/20 method to strip away the confusion and overwhelm, focusing only on the grammar, vocabulary, and communication tools you’ll actually use every day.
So, here’s my challenge to you: the next time you are visiting an Italian shop, chatting with your tutor, talking to your Italian relatives or your nonni, and you forget a word, don’t switch to English. Instead, take a breath, use a filler word, and talk around it using the simple words you do know. You have the tools now. Go use them and master the conversation!
Now you know how to keep speaking in Italian, even when you don’t know the word. But here’s what usually happens next. You say something…and the reply comes back fast. If you struggle to follow what Italians say in response, watch this video next. I’ll show you 5 practical tips to understand fast spoken Italian, so you can stay in the conversation instead of freezing or guessing.
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