Italian Language Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for students, teachers, and linguists wanting to discuss the finer points of the Italian language. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this community
Does "tenersi pronto" in the following sentence mean "to be ready" or "to get ready"?
Voglio che lui si tenga pronto per andare al cinema.
Collins dictionary says that it means "to be ready", but I have been told that it is used when one expects something to happen and thus it translates to English better as "to get ready". Which translation is more accurate?
The meaning of the locution tenersi pronto is slightly different from both "to be ready" and "to get ready". It is however closer to the first.
Tenersi pronto means something like "to stand in readiness". It has the connotation that the subject is ready to do the action at a moment's notice, without need to be forewarned. However, unlike to be ready it also has the implication that the subject should be also prepared to wait some time.
In the context of the example sentence, it implies to me that the person should be dressed, have their shoes on and have their coat somewhere close by, and that he's just waiting for someone to ring the bell or to call them to go to the cinema.
