Every year, Mother’s Day (known as La Festa della Mamma in Italian) falls on the second Sunday in May in most countries across the world including Italy, the United States, Canada, and Australia. It marks a special time honouring all kinds of mothers, from birth mothers (mamme biologiche) and grandmothers (nonne) to adoptive mothers (mamme adottive) and mother figures (figure materne).
The way you’d normally translate the phrase Happy Mother’s Day in Italian is Buona Festa della Mamma. Let’s hear how it is pronounced!
Buona Festa della Mamma!
Lit: good celebration of the mother!
Happy Mother’s Day!
A possible alternative greeting substitutes buona with felice which means happy.
Felice Festa della Mamma!
Happy Mother’s Day!
Are you interested in learning some Italian quotes and proverbs about mothers? If so, head on over to our dedicated article!
If you are planning to write your mother a greeting card (biglietto di auguri), email or text in Italian, why not consider including some of the following greetings in your message:
- Tanti auguri, Mamma! = Best wishes, Mom!
- Ti voglio bene, Mamma! = I love you, Mom!
- Alla mamma migliore del mondo… = To the best mom in the world…
- Sei una mamma adorabile! = You’re a lovely mom!
You could also surprise her with an unexpected gift (regalo) such as a bouquet of flowers (fiori), chocolates (cioccolatini), jewellery (gioielli) or a bottle of wine (vino).
There are many different types of moms who deserve to be celebrated on this day besides one’s birth mother (madre biologica). Let’s take a look at them now!
- madre adottiva / di adozione = adoptive mother
- madre affidataria = foster mother
- madre surrogata = surrogate mother
- matrigna = stepmother
- nonna = grandmother
- bisnonna = great grandmother
- madre single = single mother
- madrina = godmother
- suocera = mother-in-law
- figura materna = mother figure
Find out more about the word mamma in Italian in our dedicated article!
Heather Broster is a graduate with honours in linguistics from the University of Western Ontario. She is an aspiring polyglot, proficient in English and Italian, as well as Japanese, Welsh, and French to varying degrees of fluency. Originally from Toronto, Heather has resided in various countries, notably Italy for a period of six years. Her primary focus lies in the fields of language acquisition, education, and bilingual instruction.
