they passed a bad cheque

siamo passati davanti a casa tua — we went past your house, we walked (o drove) past your house

passare a casa di qn o da qn — to call o drop in on sb

passare di mano in mano — to be passed o handed round

passare di padre in figlio — to be handed o passed down o from father to son

passare ad altro — to change the subject, (in una riunione) to discuss the next item

passare alla storia — to pass into history, fig to become a legend

passare a miglior vita euf — to pass away

passare sopra — to pass over o above, (fig : lasciar correre) to pass over, overlook

cosa ti passa per la testa? — (a che pensi?) what is going through your mind?, (come puoi pensarlo?) what are you thinking of!

per dove si passa per arrivare in centro? — which way do I (o we) go to get into town?

far passare qn per o da — to let sb in (o out) by

far passare avanti qn — to let sb get past o by

non passerà la notte — he (o she) won't survive the night

ha passato la quarantina — he (o she) is over 40

passare qc a qn — to pass sth to sb, give sb sth, (trasmettere: messaggio) to pass sth (on) to sb

passare indietro qc — to pass o give o hand sth back

mi passi Maria? — (al telefono) can I speak to Maria?

passare l'aspirapolvere — to hoover Brit, vacuum Am

come te la passi? — how are you getting on o along?

col passare degli anni — (riferito al presente) as time goes by, (riferito al passato) as time passed o went by

passare la corda nell'anello — to pass o run the rope through the ring

passare la palla — sport to feed o pass the ball

passare gli alimenti — dir. to pay maintenance

hai proprio passato il limite! — you're way out of line! colloq.

riesci a passare? — can you fit o get through?

passando per o da by way of; passare per il centro della città, davanti alla scuola to go through the town centre, past the school; andare in Polonia passando per la Germania to travel through Germany to Poland; passare per i campi to cut across the fields; l'autobus è appena passato the bus has just gone; passate da quella porta go straight through that door; passare dalla scala di servizio — to use the backstairs o service stairs AE

passare per — [ strada] to go through; (scorrere) [ acqua] to flow through

passare da — to call at [ negozio]; to call (in) on [amico, parente]; to go round to [scuola, ufficio]

fare passare — to let in [acqua, luce]

passare inosservato — to go o pass unnoticed

non mi era mai passato per la testa che... — it never crossed o entered my mind that

passare all'offensiva — to go on o take the offensive

passare sopra a — to overlook, to pass over [comportamento, errore]

per questa volta passi — I'll let you off o I'll turn a blind eye this time, this time I'll let it go

mi era completamente passato di mente — it went right o clean o completely out of my mind

facendosi passare per un poliziotto — impersonating a o posing as a policeman

passare parola — to spread o pass the word

passarsela male — to have a hard o bad time, to go through the o jump through hoops

passare a miglior vita — eufem. to pass away

sono rimasto in casa — I stayed at home, I stayed indoors

è nell' editoria/nell' esercito — he is in publishing/in the army

è in fondo all'armadio — it is at the back of the wardrobe

è bravo in latino — he's good at Latin

dottore in legge — doctor of law

in lei ho trovato una sorella — I found a sister in her

in lui non c'era più speranza — there was no hope left in him

nell' opera di Shakespeare — in Shakespeare's works

vivo in Scozia — I live in Scotland

aveva le mani in tasca — he had his hands in his pockets

il pranzo è in tavola — lunch is on the table

se fossi in te — if I were you

un giornale diffuso in tutta Italia — a newspaper read all over o throughout Italy

andare in campagna/in montagna — to go into the country/to the mountains

andrò in Francia — I'm going to France

entrare in casa — to go into the house

entrare in macchina — to get into the car

gettare qc in acqua — to throw sth into the water

inciampò in una radice — he tripped over a root

l'ho messo là in alto/basso — I put it up/down there

spostarsi di città in città — to move from town to town

sta facendo un viaggio in Egitto — he's travelling in o around Egypt

negli anni ottanta — in the eighties

è cambiata molto in un anno — she has changed a lot in a year

in autunno — in autumn

di giorno in giorno — from day to day

in gioventù — in one's youth

in questo istante — at the moment

in luglio, nel mese di luglio — in July

lo farò in settimana — I'll do it within the week

mi piace viaggiare in aereo — I like travelling by plane, I like flying

pagare in contanti/in dollari — to pay cash/in dollars

ci andremo in macchina — we'll go there by car, we'll drive there

siamo andati in treno — we went by train

in abito da sera — in evening dress

tagliare in due — to cut in two

in fiamme — on fire, in flames

in gruppo — in a group

in guerra — at war

tradurre in italiano — to translate into Italian

parlare in italiano — to speak Italian

nell' oscurità — in the darkness

in piedi — standing, on one's feet

in prosa — in prose

in silenzio — in silence

scrivere in stampatello — to write in block letters

in versi — in verse

in marmo — made of marble, marble attr

braccialetto in oro — gold bracelet

lo stesso modello in seta — the same model in silk

me lo hanno dato in dono — they gave it to me as a gift

in favore di — in favour of

in onore di — in honour of

in altezza — in height

arrivarono in gran numero — they arrived in large numbers

in lunghezza — in length

siamo in quattro — there are four of us

in tutto — in all

si è fatto male nel salire sull'autobus — he hurt himself as he was getting onto the bus

nell' udire la notizia — on hearing the news

abito in via Roma — I live in BE o on AE via Roma

passeggiare in centro — to walk in the city centre BE o around downtown AE

viaggiare in Cina, negli Stati Uniti — to travel around o through Cina, the United States

in settimana mangio alla mensa — during the week I eat at the canteen; (entro)

tirer (au sort) — to draw [carte, loterie, nom]; to draw for [partenaire]

tirer de quelqu'un — to get [something] from somebody [renseignement, aveu]

tirer de quelque chose — to draw [something] from something [force, ressources]; to derive [something] from something [orgueil, satisfaction]; to make [something] out of something [argent]

tu ne tireras pas grand-chose de cette voiture — ( comme argent) you won't get much for this car; ( comme service) you won't get much out of this car

tiré à part — [texte] off-printed

tirer un chèque — to draw a cheque GB ou check US

tirer des plans — fig to draw up plans

tirer sur quelque chose — to pull on something; ( d'un coup ou par à-coups) to tug at something

tirer à mille exemplaires — [périodique] to have a circulation of one thousand

tirer sur le jaune/l'orangé — [couleur] to be yellowish/orangy

tirer sur la cinquantaine — [personne] to be pushing fifty

tirer à gauche/droite — [voiture] to pull to the left/right

se tirer de — to come through [situation, difficultés]

se tirer une balle — to shoot oneself ( dans in)

se tirer dessus — ( l'un l'autre) lit to shoot at one another

s'en tirer — ( à un accident) to escape; ( à une maladie) to pull through; ( à une punition) to get away with it (colloq)

tiré par les cheveux fig (histoire, intrigue, explications) — far-fetched

tirer qch de qch — to take sth from sth, to pull sth out of sth, [fruit, sol] to extract sth from sth

tirer qn de qch [embarras] — to help sb out of sth, to get sb out of sth

tirer un trait sur qch fig — to draw a line under sth

tirer sur qch [corde, poignée] — to pull on sth, to pull at sth, [pipe] to draw on sth

tirer sur qn (= faire feu sur) — to shoot at sb, to fire on sb