A phrase used in Italian to say that you want something to happen or be true is Spero di sì which means I hope so. Let’s take a moment to break it down into its component parts.
Spero di sì.
I hope so.
Spero is the first-person conjugation of the verb sperare (to hope). In Italian, the subject pronoun (in this case io = I) is often omitted because the subject is implied by the conjugation of the verb. Here is the full conjugation of sperare in the present tense:
(io) spero = I hope
(tu) speri = you hope (informal, sing.)
(lui) spera = he hopes
(lei) spera = she hopes
(Lei) spera = you hope (formal, sing.)
(noi) speriamo = we hope
(voi) sperate = you hope (plural)
(loro) sperano = they hope
Di is a preposition with multiple meanings including “of“, “from“, “by” and “than“, but in the case of this particular phrase, it doesn’t really have an English equivalent. Just remember that it is used in Italian when you are asking someone to give you a “yes” or “no” answer, or when talking about someone saying or thinking “yes” or “no”. For example:
- Ho detto di sì. = I said yes.
- Penso di no. = I don’t think so.
- Credo di sì. = I believe so.
Finally we have the word sì which means “yes” in Italian, so the literal translation of the entire phrase is something similar to “I hope yes“. Don’t forget that the letter “i” in sì is always accented!
Ti ricordi di me? Spero di sì!
Do you remember me? I hope so!
If you want to add emphasis, you can include the adverb proprio. (Spero proprio di sì! = I really hope so!)
Usefully, there is more way than one to say “I hope so” in Italian. The most common alternative is the phrase Lo spero! which literally translates as “I hope it!“
Is there a big difference between these two phrases? Not really. What’s important to remember is that you must always use Spero di sì to counter a negative statement. For example:
Spero che lui non venga stasera. – Io invece spero di sì.
I hope he doesn’t come tonight. – Well, I hope he does.
In most other cases, the two are interchangeable.
Quindi, possiamo partire stasera? – Spero di sì. / Lo spero.
Can we leave tonight? – I hope so.
Another option is Mi auguro di sì, with mi auguro being another way of saying “I hope“. The only difference here is that mi auguro is a little more formal than spero. You may also hear Me lo auguro.
Buongiorno, tutto bene? Mi auguro di sì.
Good morning, is everything okay? I hope so.
Finally we have the extremely common Speriamo! which means Let’s hope so! Quite often, you will see this exclamation accompanied by the adverb bene (well / good), as it adds extra emphasis.
Domani dovrebbe essere soleggiato tutto il giorno. – Speriamo bene! Non ne posso più di tutta questa pioggia!
Tomorrow should be sunny all day. – Let’s hope so! I’ve had enough of all this rain!
Heather Broster is a graduate with honours in linguistics from the University of Western Ontario. She is an aspiring polyglot, proficient in English and Italian, as well as Japanese, Welsh, and French to varying degrees of fluency. Originally from Toronto, Heather has resided in various countries, notably Italy for a period of six years. Her primary focus lies in the fields of language acquisition, education, and bilingual instruction.
