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Italian Phrase

Dimmi a che ora ti va bene.

/ˈdim.mi a ke ˈo.ra ti ˈva ˈbe.ne/
Meaning"Tell me what time works for you."
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Meaning

‘Tell me what time works for you.’ It’s a friendly, informal way to ask someone to suggest a convenient hour for a meeting, call, or any planned activity.

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When to use

Use this sentence when you are coordinating a meeting, a coffee date, a phone call, or any appointment and you need the other person’s preferred time. It works both in casual conversation with friends and in semi‑formal settings such as work colleagues.

✦Grammar Breakdown

Dimmiacheorativabene

1

Imperative + pronoun (Dimmi)

‘Dimmi’ is the second‑person singular imperative of ‘dire’ with the enclitic pronoun ‘mi’ attached, meaning ‘tell me’.

2

Interrogative phrase (a che ora)

‘a che ora’ literally ‘at what hour’; ‘che’ works as an interrogative adjective modifying ‘ora’.

3

Indirect object pronoun (ti)

‘ti’ refers to the listener and is the indirect object of the idiom ‘va bene’, i.e., ‘it is okay for you’.

4

Idiomatic use of andare (va bene)

In this context ‘va’ is the third‑person singular of ‘andare’ used idiomatically to mean ‘is suitable/works’.

5

Adverb ‘bene’

‘bene’ means ‘well’ and together with ‘va’ forms the fixed expression ‘va bene’ = ‘is fine/OK’.

🗨In Conversation

A

Ciao Luca, possiamo fare una video‑call domani?

Hey Luca, can we have a video call tomorrow?

Dimmi a che ora ti va bene.

Tell me what time works for you.

B

✕Common Mistakes

  • Dimmi a che ora ti è bene.

    ‘è bene’ is not idiomatic here; the correct verb is ‘va’ as part of the fixed expression ‘va bene’.

  • Mi dica a che ora ti va bene.

    Using ‘Mi dica’ would be overly formal for a casual conversation; stick with ‘Dimmi’ unless you need a formal register.

↔Alternatives

  • Fammi sapere a che ora ti è comodo.

    Let me know when it’s convenient for you.

  • A che ora ti fa comodo?

    What time is convenient for you?

  • Quando ti è più comodo?

    When is most convenient for you?

it

Cultural Tip

The expression ‘va bene’ is ubiquitous in Italian and can be used in both informal and semi‑formal contexts. If you need a more formal tone, replace ‘Dimmi’ with ‘Mi faccia sapere’ or ‘Le sarei grato se potesse indicarmi…’. Also, Italians often prefer to give a range of times rather than a single hour, so you might hear ‘Mi va bene tra le 15 e le 17’.