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How to Say ‘Excuse me, can I bother you for a moment?’ in Italian

Scusa, posso disturbarti un attimo?

SKOO-zah POHS-soh dee-stoor-BAR-tee oon AHT-tee-moh

[SKOO-zah POHS-soh dee-stoor-BAR-tee oon AHT-tee-moh]

🇮🇹 In Italy: Scusa is the casual form, natural with someone around your own age. With someone older or in a formal setting, say Scusi, posso disturbarla? instead.

Phrase Breakdown

Scusa,

SKOO-zah

Excuse me,

This is the informal 'excuse me'. Say it SKOO-za and pause briefly after it.

Example

Scusa, dov'è la stazione?

Excuse me, where is the station?

Words in this phrase

Scusa

[SKOO-zah]

excuse me

Informal way to get someone's attention politely.

Example

Scusa, sai che ore sono?

Excuse me, do you know what time it is?

posso disturbarti

POHS-soh dee-stoor-BAR-tee

can I bother you

Hold the double 's' in 'posso'. Stress 'bar' in 'disturbarti': dee-stoor-BAR-tee.

Example

Posso chiamarti?

Can I call you?

Words in this phrase

posso

[POHS-soh]

I can

First-person singular of potere; expresses ability or possibility.

Example

Posso aiutarti dopo l'evento.

I can help you after the event.

disturbarti

[dee-stoor-BAR-tee]

to disturb you

Verb 'disturbare' (to bother) plus 'ti' (you), informal.

Example

Non voglio disturbarti.

I don't want to bother you.

un attimo?

oon AHT-tee-moh

for a moment?

Link 'un' and 'attimo' together: AT-ti-mo. Use rising intonation.

Example

Hai un attimo?

Do you have a moment?

Words in this phrase

[oon]

a / an

An indefinite article meaning 'a' before a masculine singular noun.

Example

È stato un incontro molto utile.

It was a very useful meeting.

attimo

[AHT-tee-moh]

moment

A very short amount of time; 'un attimo' means 'a moment'.

Example

Aspetta un attimo, per favore.

Wait a moment, please.

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