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I sometimes guess the meaning in some uses of the Italian "mica" adverb, but I don't know how to exactly translate it into English.

Let's consider these examples from Treccani:

non è mica vero

sono cose vere, mica fantasie!

mica male questa bistecca!;

non mica un dio Selvaggio o de la plebe de gli dèi

What's the proper equivalent for "mica" in all these? The Oxford dictionary has only 2 of these uses and are translated by "not bad" and "not at all". I usually avoid translating it, but if I have to I just use "really".

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  • Sorry, symbiotech, but why are you asking this question rather than opening an Italian-English dictionary and reading the “mica” article? Or, if you did so, what was wrong with the answers you found?
    – DaG
    Commented Feb 1, 2014 at 8:41
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    symbiotech, 'really' works there, but, anyway, don't exaggerate in using 'mica', a strange word that I tend to avoid.
    – Kyriakos Kyritsis
    Commented Feb 1, 2014 at 9:31
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    @DaG it is really a difficult word for outsiders. the dictionary gave me just "not bad" and "not at all".
    – symbiotech
    Commented Feb 1, 2014 at 12:01
  • @symbiotech: Thanks for updating your question after my comment. Notice, first, that the site you mention also gives the useful “by any chance”; and, second, that it is just a very terse web page. If you are serious about learning Italian you should consider browsing an actual, complete (paper or digital) vocabulary. For instance, 2006 Ragazzini gives for mica: «avv. (fam.) 1 (per nulla) at all; in the least; one bit (fam.): Non costa m. tanto, it is not at all expensive; Non sono m. stanco, I am not in the least tired; Non mi piace m., I don't like it at all;» [follows]
    – DaG
    Commented Feb 1, 2014 at 13:17
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    “Exact translation” is the translator's dream. ;-) Unfortunately it's not possible and mica, as well as other common adverbs (più, meno) or even pronouns (ne), is a word that has no exact correspondent in English. Also the converse is true: thereof comes to mind immediately.
    – egreg ♦
    Commented Feb 2, 2014 at 16:52

3 Answers 3

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There isn't a proper translation. The translation changes depending on the context in which it is used. Keep in mind that it is a negation, also used to form rhetorical questions or a reinforcement (I prefer to call it a "modulator") of denial. To translate that, in terms of meaning, you can use many adverbs or sentence structures. As far as I know, there are no words in English that also have the informal connotation of "mica" and its "rhetorical value". Let's start with easy examples of how to modulate the negation:

Non glielo dico mica! | (Surely) I'm not going to tell him about that!

Non capisco mica la tua domanda. | I don't understand at all your question.

Mica male! | Not bad! (In this case maybe you could use "Quite good!", or I found this translation "It’s not hardly that bad." too.)

Mica male questa domanda. | Not bad, this question.

"Mica" can be used in the context of fear that something that we don't want is happening, hoping for a negative answer but fearing for an affirmative one. Read these examples (the translation is quite hard so don't consider the translations as good ones):

Non mi denuncerà mica per questo? | He won't sue me for that, will he?

Non si sarà mica fatto male! | He wouldn't hurt himself, has he?

Non sarà mica partito senza il casco! | I hope that he has not left without his helmet!

Now the next are more difficult to understand because there is the rhetorical meaning.

This first one supposes that we take into account the possibility of a negative answer:

Hai mica una sigaretta? | By any chance would you have a cigarette?

The sense you should try to convey is that the person who is using "mica" knows that the person he/she is talking with thought a determinate thing that isn't true.

Non voglio mica fregarti! | (I know that you think but) I really don't want to rip you off!

For me, even this one has this sense:

Non gli credo mica! | I don't believe him at all!

Fun fact

Google translate in the past could not translate mica because it is common only in spoken Italian while Google mainly used books and written material to translate texts!

References

https://web.archive.org/web/20141115181308/https://robinonawire.wordpress.com/2012/01/01/mica-how-to-use-it/

http://www.wordreference.com/iten/mica

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    I believe the correct translation for Non si sarà mica fatto male? should be He hasn't hurt himself, has he?. He wouldn't hurt himself, would he? would instead translate to Non ha mica intenzione di farsi del male? (or Non si farebbe mica del male, vero?).
    – nico
    Commented Feb 1, 2014 at 15:58
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    @nico I think you are right!
    – G M
    Commented Feb 2, 2014 at 10:13
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    Another possibility is to leave out mica in the translation, and, if appropriate, render it by "modulating" the intonation (e.g., by adding a note to a screenplay). Especially the translations with at all appear questionable to me. Non gli credo mica is not the same as non gli credo affatto.
    – Walter Tross
    Commented Feb 9, 2014 at 14:15
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    I would suggest also another way to translate "Non gli credo mica":"I am not silly enough to believe him".
    – alsa
    Commented Aug 29, 2015 at 22:03
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    I would add as a possible translation (in some context): "ain't it"
    – Riccardo De Contardi
    Commented Jan 20, 2018 at 22:59
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"Mica" is not at all (one could say "non è mica"..) a strange colloquial interjection to be safely ignored: perhaps it is useful to remember that it comes straight from Latin and as a noun it means "briciola", -- a crumb of bread.

When we use "mica" as an adverb, we mean "not in the least", "not at all" ("not a crumb of it"); check the Emilian dialect "brisa" that has the same meaning and is used in the same way: "brisa par criticher" = "mica per criticare" = "not to criticise in the least".

It's not so strange, -- the French have taken a similar word meaning a small unit, ("pas" = "step") and made it indispensable to form a regular negative sentence, losing its original meaning.... :-)

Interestingly, in old French one can find the French equivalent of "mica" ("mie") used in lieu of "pas" in negative sentences (they also used "goutte" or "drop" before settling for "pas").

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First off, don't use 'mica', which trivializes any assertion:

non è mica vero
non è affatto vero
sono cose vere, mica fantasie!
sono cose vere, per nulla fantasie
mica male questa bistecca!
non male questa bistecca!
non mica un dio Selvaggio o de la plebe de gli dèi
non affatto un dio Selvaggio o de la plebe ...

As I said in the comments, use really, or not really, to translate.

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    Can you backup the part where you say that it trivializes any assertion? There's no such mention in the dictionary.
    – Alenanno
    Commented Feb 1, 2014 at 10:15
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    "sono cose vere, per nulla fantasie" is waaay too formal. I would think twice before using it even in a book.
    – mau
    Commented Feb 1, 2014 at 10:18
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    @Alenan., there are things that dictionaries don't say.
    – Kyriakos Kyritsis
    Commented Feb 1, 2014 at 11:26
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    @KyriakosKyritsis Many things, but what you said in your answer sounds more like personal preference, rather than objective usage.
    – Alenanno
    Commented Feb 1, 2014 at 11:28
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    I disagree. Mica is commonly used in spoken language and sometimes it is just OK to use it. I agree with @mau that, for instance, the second example you give sounds overly formal and would definitely sound more strange than the other version.
    – nico
    Commented Feb 1, 2014 at 15:55

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