{"id":361079,"date":"2026-11-08T06:05:32","date_gmt":"2026-11-08T05:05:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/italien.news\/uncategorized\/dare-del-lei\/"},"modified":"2026-11-08T06:05:32","modified_gmt":"2026-11-08T05:05:32","slug":"dare-del-lei","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/italien.news\/en\/italienisch-lernen\/redewendung-des-tages\/dare-del-lei\/","title":{"rendered":"Italian phrase: DARE DEL LEI"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align: justify\">\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>As in German, Italian clearly distinguishes between formal and informal forms of address. To express respect and distance, speakers use <strong><em>dare del lei<\/em><\/strong>. This polite form is essential at work, when speaking to older people or when meeting someone for the first time. The choice between the familiar \u201ctu\u201d and the formal \u201clei\u201d reveals much about the social relationship between the speakers.<\/p>\n<h3>Listening and Speaking<\/h3>\n<p>(pronunciation: DA-re del LEY)<\/p>\n<h3>Literal translation<\/h3>\n<p>Literally: to give someone \u2018Lei\u2019. Meaning: to address someone formally.<\/p>\n<h2>Meaning and Attitude Toward Life<\/h2>\n<p>The Turn <em>dare del lei<\/em> means addressing someone formally. It refers to the polite pronoun \u201cLei\u201d, which takes the third-person singular. It is used with strangers, older people, superiors or in formal situations to show respect and maintain some distance. Deciding whether to address someone informally (\u201cdare del tu\u201d) or formally is an important social signal. Moving from \u201cLei\u201d to \u201ctu\u201d often marks a closer relationship. This is commonly introduced with \u201cPossiamo darci del tu?\u201d, meaning \u201cCan we use the informal \u2018tu\u2019 with each other?\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Origins and History<\/h2>\n<p>Using the third-person singular as a polite form has a long history. It developed from honorific titles such as \u201cVostra Signoria\u201d (Your Lordship) or \u201cVostra Eccellenza\u201d (Your Excellency). Because these nouns are grammatically feminine, the related verbs and pronouns also took the feminine third-person singular. Over time, this elaborate form was shortened to the simple pronoun \u201cLei\u201d. This explains why a feminine pronoun is also used when addressing a man formally.<\/p>\n<h2>Application example<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><em>Scusi, signor Rossi, posso farLe una domanda? Non vorrei disturbarLa.<\/em><\/li>\n<li>Excuse me, Mr Rossi, may I ask you a question? I do not want to disturb you.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Cultural Tip<\/h2>\n<p>In Italy, formal address is used more consistently in everyday life than it often is in German. It is the norm in shops, restaurants and public offices. This form of courtesy is particularly valued in southern Italy. It is considered impolite to suggest using the informal \u201ctu\u201d to someone older or of higher rank yourself; you should wait until the other person proposes it.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p><em>In our daily column <strong>Learn Italian - Italian phrase of the day<\/strong> the editorial team of Italien News serves you a little \u201elanguage espresso\u201c. We don't just want to teach you vocabulary, we want to open up the heart of Italy. Discover the meaning, the origin and the subtle nuances behind the most beautiful Italian idioms. Perfect for your next vacation or simply for daydreaming. A presto!<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As in German, Italian clearly distinguishes between formal and informal forms of address. To express respect and distance, speakers use <strong><em>dare del lei<\/em><\/strong>. This polite form is essential at work, when speaking to older people or when meeting someone for the first time. The choice between the familiar \u201ctu\u201d and the formal \u201clei\u201d reveals much about the social relationship between the speakers.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":314783,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inwp_podcast_mp3":"","inwp_podcast_apple":"","inwp_podcast_spotify":"","inwp_podcast_youtube":"","inw_restaurant_url":"","inw_restaurant_lat":"","inw_restaurant_lng":"","in_event_type":"","in_event_featured":"","in_event_teaser":"","in_event_name":"","in_event_address":"","in_event_status":"","in_event_turnus":"","inw_hotel_email":"","inw_hotel_type":"","inw_hotel_name":"","inw_hotel_street":"","inw_hotel_zip":"","inw_hotel_city":"","inw_hotel_region":"","inw_hotel_country":"","inw_hotel_phone":"","inw_hotel_url":"","inw_hotel_lat":"","inw_hotel_lng":"","inw_hotel_pricerange":"","inw_hotel_stars":"","inw_hotel_amenities":"","in_event_start":"","in_event_end":"","in_event_time":"","in_event_time_end":"","in_event_location":"","in_event_city":"","in_event_region":"","in_event_price":"","in_event_organizer":"","in_event_url":"","in_event_sort":"","in_event_sort_end":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"subtitle":"Dieser Ausdruck beschreibt die formelle Anrede einer Person, die dem deutschen \u201eSiezen\u201c entspricht. Er ist ein zentraler Bestandteil der italienischen H\u00f6flichkeitsformen."},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[18938],"tags":[18935,18939],"class_list":["post-361079","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-redewendung-des-tages","tag-italienisch-lernen","tag-redewendung-des-tages"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/italien.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361079","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/italien.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/italien.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/italien.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/italien.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=361079"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/italien.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361079\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/italien.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/314783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/italien.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=361079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/italien.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=361079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/italien.news\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=361079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}