fatalmente

fatally

adverb fah-TAHL-men-teh Rare

Also means

inevitably

Usage Note

Fatalmente can mean 'fatally' in the sense of causing death (è stato fatalmente ferito), but far more often in Italian it means 'inevitably' or 'as fate would have it' — a false friend for English 'fatally'. A learner must judge from context: fatalmente, è arrivato in ritardo means 'inevitably, he arrived late', not 'lethally'. This ambiguity is its most important learner note.

Examples

"Le due storie si incrociano fatalmente."

Natural Translation

The two stories inevitably cross paths.

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