# The Italian verb salire (to go up)

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-italian-verb-salire-to-go-up/1024011>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 16, 2025, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-italian-verb-salire-to-go-up/1024011 "2025-10-16T02:02:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Ferris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ferris/32/11573_2.png) [@Ferris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferris)\
**Post date:** [October 16, 2025, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-italian-verb-salire-to-go-up/1024011/1 "2025-10-16T02:02:21Z")

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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”)?

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**Author:** ![abcdefghij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/43a26b/32.png) [@abcdefghij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/abcdefghij)\
**Post date:** [October 16, 2025, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-italian-verb-salire-to-go-up/1024011/2 "2025-10-16T02:31:41Z")

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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

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**Author:** ![UDS1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e47774/32.png) [@UDS1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS1)\
**Post date:** [October 16, 2025, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-italian-verb-salire-to-go-up/1024011/3 "2025-10-16T02:34:17Z")

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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.

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**Author:** ![Ferris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ferris/32/11573_2.png) [@Ferris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferris)\
**Post date:** [October 16, 2025, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-italian-verb-salire-to-go-up/1024011/4 "2025-10-16T06:01:11Z")

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Thanks for clarifying. Makes good sense!