Significado
To start over from scratch.
Contexto cultural
The phrase is a direct link to Roman daily life. Wax tablets (tabulae) were the 'smartphones' of the era, used for everything from business receipts to love letters. The act of 'scraping' (rasa) was a daily necessity. Italian thinkers during the Renaissance and Enlightenment used this Latin phrase to discuss the nature of the soul and knowledge, often debating whether we are born with ideas or as a 'tabula rasa'. In the 1990s, the 'Mani Pulite' investigation sought to 'fare tabula rasa' of a corrupt political class. The phrase is still heavily associated with the desire for total political renewal. Teachers might use this phrase when a student has misunderstood a concept so fundamentally that they need to forget what they think they know and start the lesson from the very beginning.
Use with 'di'
Always remember to use 'di' to specify what you are erasing. It makes you sound much more fluent.
Don't over-article
Avoid saying 'la tabula rasa'. It's a fixed expression that functions almost like a single verb.
Significado
To start over from scratch.
Use with 'di'
Always remember to use 'di' to specify what you are erasing. It makes you sound much more fluent.
Don't over-article
Avoid saying 'la tabula rasa'. It's a fixed expression that functions almost like a single verb.
Dramatic effect
Italians use this for dramatic effect. If you want to show you are serious about a change, this is the phrase to use.
Teste-se
Complete the sentence with the correct form of the verb 'fare'.
L'anno scorso, noi ________ tabula rasa di tutte le vecchie abitudini.
The sentence refers to 'L'anno scorso' (last year), so the Passato Prossimo 'abbiamo fatto' is required.
Which sentence uses the idiom correctly?
Choose the correct option:
The idiom does not use an article and requires the preposition 'di'.
Match the situation to the most appropriate use of 'fare tabula rasa'.
Situation: A company fires its entire marketing team to hire new people with fresh ideas.
This situation describes a radical erasure of the old to start fresh, which is the definition of 'fare tabula rasa'.
Complete the dialogue.
A: 'Perché hai cancellato tutti i file dal computer?' B: 'Perché volevo ________.'
'Fare tabula rasa' fits the context of erasing everything to start fresh.
🎉 Pontuação: /4
Recursos visuais
Tabula Rasa vs. Ricominciare
Banco de exercicios
4 exerciciosL'anno scorso, noi ________ tabula rasa di tutte le vecchie abitudini.
The sentence refers to 'L'anno scorso' (last year), so the Passato Prossimo 'abbiamo fatto' is required.
Choose the correct option:
The idiom does not use an article and requires the preposition 'di'.
Situation: A company fires its entire marketing team to hire new people with fresh ideas.
This situation describes a radical erasure of the old to start fresh, which is the definition of 'fare tabula rasa'.
A: 'Perché hai cancellato tutti i file dal computer?' B: 'Perché volevo ________.'
'Fare tabula rasa' fits the context of erasing everything to start fresh.
🎉 Pontuação: /4
Perguntas frequentes
10 perguntasIt is Latin, but it is used as a standard loan-phrase in Italian, much like 'carpe diem' is used in English.
Only if you are being very dramatic or if you are throwing everything away to start over. For normal cleaning, use 'pulire'.
It is neutral to formal. You can use it with friends, but it also appears in serious newspaper articles.
In Italian, we don't usually pluralize it. We say 'hanno fatto tabula rasa' even if many people are doing it.
It's grammatically possible but sounds unnatural to native speakers. Stick to 'fare tabula rasa'.
Not necessarily. It can be destructive, like a fire making 'tabula rasa' of a forest.
Yes, in a modern digital context, 'fare tabula rasa' is the perfect equivalent of 'performing a factory reset'.
Yes, but be careful. 'Fare tabula rasa dei collaboratori' means firing them all.
Use 'ho fatto', 'hai fatto', 'ha fatto', etc.
No, the phrase is fixed. You can't just say 'fare tabula'.
Frases relacionadas
piazza pulita
similarA clean sweep
ripartire da zero
synonymTo start from zero
voltare pagina
similarTo turn the page
mettere una pietra sopra
similarTo put a stone over it
ricominciare da capo
synonymTo start from the head/beginning
