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What would be the meaning of the word "ben" in this sentence: "Infatti ha ben sei figli."

According to the dictionary is "well". That does not make too much sense to me...

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  • Which dictionary? Ragazzini includes this meaning, and exemplifies it with ben due milioni = “a good (fam. cool) two million” and ben sei mesi = “no less than six months”.
    – DaG
    Jun 29, 2021 at 6:51

1 Answer 1

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The word bene (here truncated to ben for euphonic reasons) does mean well, but in this context is not used in this meaning. It is used as an intensifier, to remark on how impressive the number of children is.

After thinking for a while I could not come up with any English word that plays the same role here. So I suggest one to omit it in the translation:

Indeed he has six children

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  • Come traduzioni, forse "so much as six children"? O "six children" con il corsivo per enfatizzare? Ma il tuo inglese è sicuramente migliore del mio... Jun 29, 2021 at 10:37

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