Sei come un sogno.

You're like a dream.

Pronunciation

sei CO-me un SO-gno — stress on 'co-' and 'so-'. 'Sogno' is two syllables: SO-gno.

When to use it

A poetic and deeply Italian compliment — comparing someone to a dream is one of the most romantic things you can say.

What it means

'Sei come un sogno' = you are like a dream. Simple but powerful. 'Sogno' = dream. Italian poetry and song are full of dream comparisons — using one naturally places the speaker within a long tradition of Italian romantic expression.

Variations

Ho paura di svegliarmi.

I'm afraid of waking up.

Perfect follow-up — implies the situation feels like a dream you don't want to end

Sembri uscito/a dai miei pensieri.

You seem to have stepped out of my thoughts.

Beautiful — implies you had imagined someone like this before they appeared

Non pensavo esistessero persone come te.

I didn't think people like you existed.

Wonderment — the person is almost too good to be real

Mini Dialogue

— Sei come un sogno. — Di che tipo di sogno? — Uno di quelli da cui non vuoi svegliarti mai. — Che cosa bella da dire. — È la cosa più vera che potevo dirti.

— You're like a dream. — What kind of dream? — One of those you never want to wake up from. — What a lovely thing to say. — It's the truest thing I could tell you.

Cultural Note

Italy has a rich oneiric (dream-related) tradition in poetry and song — from Leopardi to the lyrics of 1960s cantautori. Comparing someone to a dream is invoking this entire tradition. It says the person is beautiful enough to have been imagined before being encountered.

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Mi stai conquistando.

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