How to Say ‘A friend of mine is arriving soon’ in Italian
Tra poco arriva una mia amica
trah POH-koh ahr-REE-vah OO-nah mee-ah ah-MEE-kah
[trah POH-koh ahr-REE-vah OO-nah mee-ah ah-MEE-kah]
💬 Usage Tip: arriva is the plain present tense, but with tra poco it covers the near future. Italians often do this instead of using a future tense, as in tra poco esco "I'm going out soon."
🇮🇹 In Italy: Mentioning a friend on the way is a light, polite signal. It can keep the chat friendly without it turning into a long one-on-one.
Phrase Breakdown
Tra poco
trah POH-koh
Soon / In a little while
'Tra' plus a time means 'in'. Lightly roll the 'r'.
Tra poco comincia il film.
The film starts soon.
Words in this phrase
Tra
[trah]
in (time)
With time expressions, 'tra' means 'in' or 'within' a future amount of time.
Tra dieci minuti parto.
I'm leaving in ten minutes.
poco
[POH-koh]
a little while
In 'tra poco', it means a short time, so 'soon'.
Ci vediamo tra poco.
See you soon.
arriva una mia amica
ahr-REE-vah OO-nah mee-ah ah-MEE-kah
a friend of mine is arriving
Here the subject comes after the verb, which is natural in Italian. Roll the double 'rr'.
Stasera arriva una mia amica.
A friend of mine is arriving tonight.
Words in this phrase
arriva
[ahr-REE-vah]
arrives
Third-person singular of arrivare, used for transport arrivals.
A che ora arriva? Arriva in ritardo oggi?
At what time does it arrive? Is it arriving late today?
una
[OO-nah]
a / an
Feminine singular indefinite article, used before feminine nouns.
È una bella occasione per rivedersi.
It’s a nice occasion to see each other again.
mia
[mee-ah]
my
Possessive term indicating one's ownership.
È la mia scelta.
It is my choice.
amica
[ah-MEE-kah]
friend (female)
Feminine form of 'amico', a female friend.
La mia amica è simpatica.
My friend is nice.
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