“Avere senso” vs “fare senso”?

Question

My girlfriend is Italian and I've been learning Italian for some time now. I've always used "Fa senso" and she never corrected me. Recently I befriended a girl and when she heard me saying "fa senso", she promptly corrected me and said that "fare senso" meant "to be disgusted"!I think it could be a regional thing, because my girlfriend is from the North and this girl is from central Italy. The question is, am I correct? Is this just a regional difference or one of them is wrong?

Answer 1

Hello and Good Afternoon,

Thank you for asking this question.

When translating the phrase 'it makes sense', one would think that the verb to be used would be 'Fare' (to make); however, when used in this context, the correct verb would be 'Avere' (to have).

According to Rizzoli's Dizionario dei Sinonimi e dei Contrari', the word 'senso' has multiple meaning depending on the context of the sentence; and when used with the verb 'Fare', the following words/phrases clarify the meaning of this phrase: disgustare, fare schifo, dare fastidio, provocare, repulsione.

Remember that both of these verbs are irregular and do not necessarily follow the same grammatical rules are regular Italian verbs.

Thank you again for asking this question and please feel free to ask any additional questions as you please.

Buona Giornata!!