The Italian verb salire (to go up)

Factual Questions
1

I’ve seen the phrase “This goes up to eleven” translated as either:

Questo va fino a undici

or:-

Questo sale fino a undici

A Google search tells me that:-

In Italian, the word “fino” most commonly functions as a preposition meaning “until," “up to,” or “as far as."

So my question is, is ‘sale fino’ grammatically correct (“goes up as far as”), or is it doubling up unnecessarily (“goes up to up to”)?

2

There’s no “up” involved in fino. It means “until” (or “finally”, if it helps to see the common root).

Salire has multiple meanings; “to go up” being one of them (I’m more used to it meaning “to go out”). But you can salire (up or out) indefinitely. Fino is what gives the limit, so no, not redundant.

va fino = go until

sale fino = go up until

3

They’re both correct. The difference is one of emphasis.

. . . va fino a undici — goes as far as eleven

. . . salo fino a undici — goes up as far as eleven

Fino doesn’t necessarily mean “up to”. Vado fino a Roma; I’m going as far as Rome, but the journey from where I am now towards Rome might well be downhill, or level.

So, va fino a undici doesn’t imply that 11 is the upper limit of whatever it is you’re talking about; you might use a phrase like this when talking about e.g. how low the temperature might go tonight. But if you use salire then you’re definitely talking about an upper limit, and any movement towards that limit will be an ascent, not a descent.

4

Thanks for clarifying. Makes good sense!