What does mai in Italian mean?

What is the meaning of the word mai in Italian? The article explains the full meaning, pronunciation along with bilingual examples and instructions on how to use mai in Italian.

The word mai in Italian means never, Never!, ever, now or never, It never rains, it pours., how come, how is it that, life sentence, just in case, you never forget your first kiss, better safe than sorry, truth is never one-sided, never! no way! it's out of the question!, now more than ever, never say never, never ever, nevermore, nevermore, never again!, never as much as me, never like me, always a hassle, never seen, never seen before, better late than never, never get anything right, it's never too late, never get in touch, never make contact, never cease to be amazed, always be there, never be missing, never give up, keep hanging on, never forgive yourself, you never stop learning, you learn something new every day, you can never relax, you can never get any peace, one never knows, you never know, never grow tired of repeating that, I can never thank you enough, never back down, never fail, I would never want, now more than ever, never before, since when?, when did I ever?, as ever, as ever, hardly ever, you're the best thing that's ever happened to me, man who doesn't have to ask, man who doesn't have to try too hard. To learn more, please see the details below.

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Meaning of the word mai

never

avverbio (in nessun caso o momento)

(adverb: Describes a verb, adjective, adverb, or clause--for example, "come quickly," "very rare," "happening now," "fall down.")
Non l'ho mai visto prima d'ora.
I've never seen him before now.

Never!

interiezione (assolutamente no)

(interjection: Exclamation--for example, "Oh no!" "Wow!")
"Arrendetevi!" "Mai!"
"Surrender!" "Never!"

ever

avverbio (interrogativo: almeno una volta)

(adverb: Describes a verb, adjective, adverb, or clause--for example, "come quickly," "very rare," "happening now," "fall down.")
Sei mai stato a Roma?
Have you ever been to Rome?

now or never

locuzione avverbiale

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")

It never rains, it pours.

how come

locuzione avverbiale (perché, per quale motivo)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")
Come mai ti sei iscritto a un corso di fotografia sapendo che non hai tempo per frequentarlo?

how is it that

interiezione (perché mai)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")
Hai lasciato Paolo? E come mai?

life sentence

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

just in case

you never forget your first kiss

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")

better safe than sorry

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")

truth is never one-sided

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")

never! no way! it's out of the question!

(colloquiale (figuriamoci!) (colloquial)

now more than ever

(adverb: Describes a verb, adjective, adverb, or clause--for example, "come quickly," "very rare," "happening now," "fall down.")

never say never

(expression)

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")
Mai dire mai: potresti diventare padre da un giorno all'altro.
Never say never: you could become a father at any time.

never ever

nevermore

locuzione avverbiale (giammai)

(adverb: Describes a verb, adjective, adverb, or clause--for example, "come quickly," "very rare," "happening now," "fall down.")

nevermore

interiezione (non voler ripetere un'esperienza)

(adverb: Describes a verb, adjective, adverb, or clause--for example, "come quickly," "very rare," "happening now," "fall down.")

never again!

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")

never as much as me, never like me

locuzione avverbiale (molto lontano dal mio livello)

"Sono stressata". "Mai quanto me, te lo garantisco!".
"I'm stressed", "Never as much as me, I can assure you of that!"

always a hassle

never seen

never seen before

better late than never

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")
Meglio tardi che mai: ormai non ci speravo più.
Better late than never; I was beginning to lose hope.

never get anything right

verbo transitivo o transitivo pronominale (idiomatico (non riuscire mai a fare la cosa giusta)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")

it's never too late

Non è mai troppo tardi per imparare una lingua straniera.
It's never too late to learn a foreign language.

never get in touch, never make contact

never cease to be amazed

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")

always be there, never be missing

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")

never give up, keep hanging on

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")

never forgive yourself

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")

you never stop learning, you learn something new every day

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")
Anche da anziani, non si finisce mai di imparare.
You never stop learning, even when you're old.

you can never relax, you can never get any peace

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")

one never knows, you never know

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")
Trattalo bene; non si sa mai se un giorno diventerà una persona importante.
Treat him nicely; you never know, he might become someone important one day.

never grow tired of repeating that

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")

I can never thank you enough

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")

never back down

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")

never fail

I would never want

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")

now more than ever, never before

(adverb: Describes a verb, adjective, adverb, or clause--for example, "come quickly," "very rare," "happening now," "fall down.")

since when?, when did I ever?

(expression: Prepositional phrase, adverbial phrase, or other phrase or expression--for example, "behind the times," "on your own.")

as ever

locuzione avverbiale (come mai prima d'ora)

He is as stubborn as ever in his resolve.

as ever

locuzione avverbiale (moltissimo, davvero)

hardly ever

locuzione avverbiale (raramente)

you're the best thing that's ever happened to me

man who doesn't have to ask, man who doesn't have to try too hard

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

Let's learn Italian

So now that you know more about the meaning of mai in Italian, you can learn how to use them through selected examples and how to read them. And remember to learn the related words that we suggest. Our website is constantly updating with new words and new examples so you can look up the meanings of other words you don't know in Italian.

Related words of mai

Do you know about Italian

Italian (italiano) is a Romance language and is spoken by about 70 million people, most of whom live in Italy. Italian uses the Latin alphabet. The letters J, K, W, X and Y do not exist in the standard Italian alphabet, but they still appear in loanwords from Italian. Italian is the second most widely spoken in the European Union with 67 million speakers (15% of the EU population) and it is spoken as a second language by 13.4 million EU citizens (3%). Italian is the principal working language of the Holy See, serving as the lingua franca in the Roman Catholic hierarchy. An important event that helped to the spread of Italian was Napoleon's conquest and occupation of Italy in the early 19th century. This conquest spurred the unification of Italy several decades later and pushed the language of the Italian language. Italian became a language used not only among secretaries, aristocrats and the Italian courts, but also by the bourgeoisie.