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About Lauren O' Hagan
Expertise
Although not my mother tongue, I have spoken Italian fluently for a little less than 10 years so I am very confident to answer any questions about the Italian language. I also speak in Roman Dialect if there are any questions relating to this.
Experience
I received an A* in my GCSE which ranked me as the top Italian student in the country. I have translated 2 famous football websites on request of their representatives as well as Federico Moccia's Tre Metri Sopra Il Cielo and 2 of Francesco Totti's book for personal reference
Education/Credentials
As previously mentioned, I obtained the highest grade possible in GCSE for Italian
Awards and Honors
Letter of recognition from the Italian consulate
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Luciano Spalletti
Philippe Mexes
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You are here: Experts > Homework Help > Italian Language > Italian Language > which translation is appropriate?
Expert: Lauren O' Hagan
Date: 8/27/2008
Subject: which translation is appropriate?
Question
QUESTION: "lasciar andare" and "lasciar libero" both mean "to let go," is this correct? I am looking for the translation of "let go," in the context of letting go of an emotion as opposed to an object. Would either one of these phrases be more appropriate?
ANSWER: Hi Melissa,
Yes it is true that both of these mean 'to let go'
However 'lasciar libero' refers to letting go in the sentence of being set free from something.
'Lasciar andare' is more referring to someone letting go of feelings. But it must be noted that the completely correct way is 'lasciarsi andare'
The reason is, that the word must turn reflexive due to the fact that the action is happening to oneself. E.g He is letting himself go - Si lascia andare
Hope this helps,
Regards
Lauren
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: Thank you so much!
With 'lasciar libero,' aren't you setting free emotions? So wouldn't that work?
When I looked up 'lasciarsi andare' in the Italian to English dictionary, it had definitions of breaking up, letting yourself go (which sounds like falling apart, not taking care of yourself). That's not what I'm looking for.
Also, you mentioned 'Si lacia andare.' I was told that 'lacia' was imperative, so it would be used in an exclamation.
Answer
Hi,
'Lasciar libero' could also refer to setting free emotions however I personally feel that 'lasciarsi andare' is more appropriate in this case.
I can also assure you that 'lasciarsi andare' has the main maning ofletting go of emotions. If it was referring to breaking up, just 'lasciarsi' without the 'andare' would be correct. I guess an English way to also say 'to let yourself go', would be 'to let your hair down'
To answer what you said about the imperative, lasciare isn't strictly for the imperative as you could write it as a single sentence to talk about something that somebody is doing. So like I said before, 'Si lascia andare' is 'he is letting himself go, as you could be looking at somebody and talking to a friend about them.
But to use it in the imperative, it would be when you are saying it as a command to somebody. So 'Come on! Let yourself go!' would be 'Dai! Lasciati andare!'
Hope this helps further,
Regards,
Lauren
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