smettere

stop

verb ZMEHT-teh-reh Less Common

Origin: from Latin 'ex-mittere'

Also means

quit

Usage Note

Smettere means to quit an activity and is followed by di plus an infinitive, as in smettere di fumare ('to quit smoking'). It conjugates like mettere, with the irregular past participle smesso. The terse command smettila! means 'stop it!'.

Examples

"Devo smettere di mangiare dolci."

Natural Translation

I have to stop eating sweets.

Literal Translation

I-must to-stop of to-eat sweets.

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