Today, I’d like to talk about the use of the word allora. It’s a pretty common word in Italian and you’ll often hear Italian native speakers use it; however, if you are studying Italian, it can be pretty tricky to understand how and when to use it. I hope I can bring you a few examples that will make you confident enough to try to use it yourself!
The first meaning of allora is “back then” or “at that time (in the past).” Mia nonna è cresciuta durante la Seconda Guerra mondiale. Allora la gente non aveva proprio niente. “My grandma grew up during WWII. At that time/back then, people really had nothing. As you can see from the example, allora refers to a period of time in the past that has been mentioned or established during the conversation or the narration.
Allora can also be used as “therefore” and “so.” Era finito il latte, allora sono andato a comprarlo. “We ran out of milk; so/therefore, I went out to buy it.” In this case, it is a synonym of quindi. The main difference is that allora sounds more like everyday speech while quindi sounds more like standard written Italian.
A more colloquial use of allora is with the meaning of “then.” For example: Hai fame? Allora mangia! – Are you hungry? Then, you should eat. Allora is used to put emphasis on the consequence of a certain situation. As you can see, even in English you can simply answer with “You should eat,” but using “then” makes the suggestion sound like a natural response and consequence. A very similar way to use allora is in if sentences: se hai fame, allora mangia. “If you are hungry, then eat.” Here the cause-consequence correlation is even stronger and made clearer by the se, “if.” In many cases, the allora can be replaced with “for this/that reason.” Hai finito? Allora vado io. “Did you finish? Then, I’ll go.” You could replace that allora, that “then,” with “for that reason I can go.”
But let’s look at uses of allora as fillers or completely different meaning. One use of allora when speaking is to take time. When you are looking for the answer and thinking about it you can say: allora, vediamo… which sounds like “so, let’s see…” It is used more often when doing a little research while looking for the answer or planning or trying to recall something that has happened.
Allora can be used as an exclamation or question and according to the tone it can mean different things. Allora? “So what?” or even “What do you want me to do about it?” E allora? “Then? What happened?” Eh allora! “See? You didn’t have to worry” Eh ma allora! “You should have said it sooner!” More or less the tone you’ll use asking or saying these allora is the same as in English, so, to have a better idea of how to say them, you should try to read them out loud as you would say the corresponding translation. But the scariest allora is the one your parent says to you and it sounds like a question: allora? For experience, I can say it is usually followed by another rhetorical question like: hai finite? “Are you done?” In this case, allora is used as a way to scold someone. As you can probably imagine, it is used a lot in fights and little quarrels.
Or you can use it right when you start a sentence. This use is really common in people who teach or explain something. I am sure you’ve hear your Italian teacher say at least once: Allora, oggi iniziamo con… “So, let’s start with…” Or even: Allora, siete pronti? “So? Are you ready?” It’s a way to start an explanation or a lecture or to start addressing a class in front of you or a group of people you are about to work with. It can also be used at the end of the whole speech as a way to say “to sum up:” allora, oggi abbiamo parlato di… “to sum up, today we talked about…” The latter is a way to take stock of the situation, briefly summarize, and then move on.
Allora? Do you have a better idea of how to use it?
