Allora(so, then, well) is one of those filler words that’s highly useful when thinking of what to say in Italian. It buys you a little time and tells the listener you’re thinking things over, especially when used by itself, or to introduce a sentence. Used by itself, it can express impatience:
Allora!(Come on!, Hey!)
or can be introductory:
Allora, vediamo.(Well then, let’s see.)
But what does it really mean? The word actually comes from the Latinad illa horam(at that time). And, not surprisingly,alloracanindeed mean “at that time,” whenit refers tothe past. It’s true that we can use “then” as a translation, but “then” has other meanings as well, so it helps to have an idea ofallora’s underlying meaning.
The following example gives you the idea:
Io penso che tu lo sappia che prima di allora...
I think that you know that beforethat time...
eh, Roma aveva un grandissimo problema proprio per le alluvioni.
See AlsoItalian - CommunicationFlirting In Italian: Top Words And Phrases You Need To Know - CudooItalian - GreetingsThe Many Meanings of the Word Prego in Italian - Rosetta Stoneuh, Rome had indeed a huge problem with flooding.
Captions 36-37, Anna e Marika - Il fiume Tevere
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In a video seriesabout the recent history Italian cuisine, Chef Gualtiero Marchesi is telling the story of his restaurant. He usesalloratwice in the same sentence, but to mean different things: the first instance is the filler that gets used so often; the second instance is a bit more specific.
E allora proponevo questo piatto, il grande antipasto di pesce,
AndsoI offered this dish, a large fish antipasto,
che allora aveva tre versioni.
which at that time had three versions.
Captions 12-13, L'arte della cucina - L'Epoca delle Piccole Rivoluzioni
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Alloracan also mean “in that case.” In fact, the second instance ofallorain the above example could also possibly have meant “in that case.” In the following example, the meaning is less ambiguous. You might be asking, can’t we just say “then”? In this case, yes, because it’s clearly an “if/then” situation, but “in that case” helps us understandalloramore fully.
Quindi, la differenza è minima, però capirete quando vedete:
So, the difference is minimal, but you'll understand when you see:
è un aggettivo o un avverbio?
is it an adjective or an adverb?
Se io parlo di un avverbio, allora è sempre "bene",
If I'm talking about an adverb,in that caseit's always "bene,"
una situazione, se parlo di un aggettivo uso "bello" o "buono".
a situation, if I'm talking about an adjective I use "bello" or "buono."
Captions 24-27, Corso di italiano con Daniela - Le parole: bello, buono e bene
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In place ofallora, Daniela could have usedin tal casoorin quel casoto mean “in that case,” but since she is speaking informally, she has usedallora.
We usealloraa lot in speech without even thinking about it, so being aware of where it comes from may give usuna marcia in più(“an edge,” literally “one more gear”).
In a nutshell:
Allorais a filler word much of the time (well, so, then).
Alloracomes from the Latinad illa horam(at that time) and means precisely that, when talking about the past.Allorameans “then” in several senses of the word (well/so, at that time, in that case).
Just for fun:
Allora, vi racconto un po’ della mia storia. Da bambina portavo una gonna per andare a scuola.Alloraera vietato alle ragazze mettersi pantaloni. Il sabato, per giocare,allorapotevano mettere anche i pantaloni.Allora! Mi ascoltate? No?Allora, non vi dico più niente.
Well, I’ll tell you a bit about my past. As a girl I wore a skirt to go to school.At that timegirls were not allowed to wear pants.But on Saturdays, to play,then (in that case)they could wear pants, too.Hey! Are you listening to me? You’re not?In that case, I won’t tell you anything more.
Learning suggestion:
There are a great many instances ofallorain Yabla videos. By doing a search and just scrolling through, now that you’re in the know, you’ll be able to figure out if someone’s thinking of what to say, or if he or she is being more specific.
