fare bene

Italian

Etymology

Literally, “to do well”. Compare French faire bien de / bien faire de, Romanian face bine.

Verb

fàre bene (first-person singular present fàccio bene, first-person singular past historic féci bene, past participle fàtto bene, first-person singular imperfect facévo bene, second-person singular imperative fài bene or fà' bene, auxiliary avére)

1. (intransitive) to do well (take the prudent approach) [+ a (object) = to]

   faresti bene a tacere ― you'd better keep quiet (literally, “you would do well to keep quiet”)

   • 2020 November 12, Charles A. Kupchan, “Usa, la missione occidentale [US, the Western mission]”, in la Repubblica‎^[1]:

     Europei e americani faranno bene quindi a collaborare per affrontare le ragioni alla base del fascino costante esercitato dall'estremismo populista.

     Europeans and Americans will therefore do well to work together to address the reasons behind the steady fascination held by populist extremism.

2. to do the right thing [+ a (object) = by]

   Hai fatto bene a dirci la verità.

   You did the right thing by telling us the truth.

3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see fare,‎ bene.

Anagrams

• benefare