come

['kome]

1. avv

1) (alla maniera di, nel modo che) as, like (davanti a sostantivo, pronome)

com'è vero Dio — as God is my witness

bianco come la neve — (as) white as snow

veste come suo padre — he dresses like his father

a scuola come a casa — both at school and at home, at school as well as at home

ci vuole uno come lui — we need somebody like him

è come parlare al muro — it's like talking to the wall

non hanno accettato il progetto: come dire che siamo fregati — they didn't accept the plan: which means we've had it

2) (in quale modo: interrogativo, esclamativo) how

come mai? — how come?

come mai non sei partito? — whyever didn't you leave?

non hanno accettato il mio assegno — come mai? — they didn't accept my cheque — whyever not?

vieni? — come no! — are you coming? — of course!

come stai? — how are you?

come glielo dico? — how will I tell him?

non so come dirglielo — I don't know how to tell him

come?; come dici? — pardon? Brit, sorry?, excuse me? Am, what did you say?

com'è il tuo amico? — what's your friend like?

com'è che non hai telefonato? — how come you didn't phone?

3)

(il modo in cui) mi piace come scrive — I like the way he writes, I like his style of writing

ecco come è successo — this is how it happened

attento a come parli! — mind your tongue!

4) (in qualità di) as

ti parlo come amico — I'm speaking to you as a friend

come presidente, dirò che... — speaking as your president I must say that ...

lo hanno scelto come rappresentante — they've chosen him as their representative

5)

(quanto) come è brutto! — how ugly he (o it) is!

come mi dispiace! — I'm terribly sorry!

6)

A come Ancona — A for Andrew

come non detto — let's forget it

oggi come oggi — at the present time

ora come ora — right now

See:

così,

tanto

2. cong

1)

(in quale modo) mi scrisse come si era rotto un braccio — he wrote to tell me about how he had broken an arm

mi ha spiegato come l'ha conosciuto — he told me how he met him

dovevi vedere come lo picchiava — you should have seen the way he was hitting him

2) (quanto) how

sai come sia sensibile — you know how sensitive he is

3) (correlativo) as, (con comparativi di maggioranza) than

si comporta come ha sempre fatto — he behaves as he has always done

è meglio/peggio di come mi aspettavo — it is better/worse than I expected

4) (appena che, quando) as soon as

come arrivò si mise a lavorare — as soon as he arrived he set to work, no sooner had he arrived than he set to work

come se n'è andato, tutti sono scoppiati a ridere — as soon as he left, everyone burst out laughing

5)

come (se) — as if, as though

la trattano come (se) fosse la loro schiava — they treat her like a slave o as if she were their slave

6) (in proposizioni incidentali) as

come puoi constatare — as you can see

come sai — as you know

3. sm inv

il come e il perché — the whys and the wherefores

non so dirti il come e il quando di tutta questa faccenda — I couldn't tell you how and when all this happened