One of the beautiful things about learning a new language is when you find a special word that doesn’t exist in your native language. These special words can open you up to new patterns of thought, new ideas and new philosophies. Magari is one such word. You see, it doesn’t translate directly to English. My favorite way to define it is:

Magari = If only

For example. Would you like a free Ferrari? The answer would be Magari! 

How about 1 million dollars? Magari!

Magari = Maybe (Hopeful + Positive)

You can also use Magari in an expression like, “Maybe we can go eat pasta tonight at the restaurant!” In this case we could also use Forse, but that lacks the positive, hopeful tone of Magari. Forse (Maybe) would mean that you really don’t know if you will go to the restaurant. But if you say Magari andiamo al ristorante questa sera per prendere un piatto di spaghetti” it translates to something like “It would be nice to go to the restaurant to get a plate of spaghetti”

Magari = Yes!

Magari can also be used to make a positive affirmation. Would you like to meet up tonight? “Si, Magari!”

Linguistic origin:

“Magari” actually comes from ancient Greek word “makàrios”. In the Greek language, this has very positive connotations and means “a great/blessed or fortunate event”. Greeks use this word when wanting to express something that they wish would happen.

A great way to use “magari” in this context would be if someone asks you when you will become fluent in Italian.

You could reply by saying “magari presto” which translates as “hopefully soon”.

Like the word Magari? Why not learn the 1000 most common words in Italian next?

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