Signification
A useless activity.
Contexte culturel
Italians are very expressive about their time. Using 'tempo perso' is a socially acceptable way to vent frustration. In a professional setting, calling a task 'tempo perso' can be seen as a critique of management efficiency. In some southern regions, the phrase might be used with more emphasis, like 'tempo perso del tutto'. Young people might use it to describe social media scrolling or boring online content.
Keep it simple
Don't overcomplicate the sentence. 'È tempo perso' is enough.
Watch your tone
It can sound very blunt. Use it carefully with people you don't know well.
Signification
A useless activity.
Keep it simple
Don't overcomplicate the sentence. 'È tempo perso' is enough.
Watch your tone
It can sound very blunt. Use it carefully with people you don't know well.
Use it for boundaries
It's a great way to say 'no' to things that don't interest you.
It's a common complaint
Italians love to complain about bureaucracy, so you'll hear this a lot at the post office!
Teste-toi
Complete the sentence with the correct phrase.
Andare a quella riunione è stato ________.
The context implies a useless activity, so 'tempo perso' is the correct choice.
Choose the sentence that uses 'tempo perso' correctly.
Which sentence is correct?
The phrase does not take an article and is used as a predicate.
Match the Italian phrase with its English equivalent.
Match:
Tempo perso is negative, tempo libero is positive.
Complete the dialogue.
A: 'Dovrei studiare tutto il libro stasera?' B: 'No, ________.'
The advice suggests that studying the whole book is useless.
🎉 Score : /4
Aides visuelles
Banque d exercices
4 exercicesAndare a quella riunione è stato ________.
The context implies a useless activity, so 'tempo perso' is the correct choice.
Which sentence is correct?
The phrase does not take an article and is used as a predicate.
Associez chaque element a gauche avec son pair a droite :
Tempo perso is negative, tempo libero is positive.
A: 'Dovrei studiare tutto il libro stasera?' B: 'No, ________.'
The advice suggests that studying the whole book is useless.
🎉 Score : /4
Questions fréquentes
12 questionsNo, it describes an activity or situation. For a person, you would say 'una persona che fa perdere tempo'.
Yes, it is inherently negative.
Yes, but it's more common to just say 'è tempo perso'.
Not if you are complaining about a shared experience, like a bad movie.
The phrase doesn't really have a plural form as it's an abstract concept.
Only if you are very close with the recipient.
Yes, 'sprecare tempo' is the verb phrase for the same concept.
It's a masculine phrase because 'tempo' is masculine.
Absolutely not. It's too informal.
It's informal, but not really slang. It's standard Italian.
You say 'Ho perso tempo'.
Yes, it is universally understood.
Expressions liées
Perdita di tempo
synonymA loss of time
Buttare via il tempo
similarTo throw away time
Tempo sprecato
synonymWasted time
Tempo libero
contrastFree time
