girare

Girare is an Italian verb with several related meanings centered on the idea of turning or changing direction. The most common senses are to turn or rotate something (la chiave gira nel foro; la ruota gira) and to move around or go around a place (giro per la città; girovagare). It also has a specialized sense in media production: to shoot or film a movie, television program, or scene (girare un film, girare una scena).

Grammatical overview: girare is a regular -are verb. In the present indicative: io giro, tu giri, lui/lei gira, noi giriamo, voi girate, loro girano. The past participle is girato, used with auxiliary avere in compound tenses when the action is transitive (Ho girato una scena). In some intransitive or movement-related uses, Italian may employ essere in compound tenses, but avere is more common for transitive senses like filming or turning objects.

Common usages and phrases: with directions, one says gira a destra or gira a sinistra to indicate turning right or left. With objects, you can say la chiave gira nel foro (the key turns in the lock). In a filming context, si è deciso di girare un cortometraggio next month (they decided to shoot a short film). Other extended senses include girare intorno a qualcosa (to go around something) and girare per le strade (to roam the streets).

Representative examples:

- Il motore continua a girare. (The engine keeps running/turning.)

- Hanno girato un documentario in tre settimane. (They shot a documentary in three weeks.)

- Gira a sinistra al semaforo. (Turn left at the traffic light.)

See also: phrases related to turning, filming, and movement, such as girare per, girare una scena, and giri/giros.