Heather Broster
An Italian adjective that means fond or attached is affezionato, which is the past participle of the verb affezionare (to grow fond). The feminine form is affezionata, whereas the respective plurals are affezionati (masculine) and affezionate (feminine). Learn with our video Whereas in English, we would say fond of (something) or attached to (something), Italians …
An Italian conjunction that allows you to express a conclusion or a cause-and-effect relationship is quindi. It usually translates as so or therefore in English. Both quindi, and its obsolete twin quinci (hence, thus), come from the late Latin eccum inde ‘from here‘. This locative meaning existed in archaic Italian, much like its Latin counterpart, …
Mattino (masculine) and mattina (feminine), both of which translate as morning in English, are two words of different genders that derive from the same Latin adjective matutinus. They indicate the part of the day between dawn and noon. Their respective plurals are mattini (masculine) and mattine (feminine). Knowing which word to use and when can …
A question you can expect to hear when visiting friends and family in Italy is Vuoi qualcosa da mangiare? which translates as Do you want something to eat? Vuoi qualcosa da mangiare? Do you want something to eat? Let’s take a quick look at the four words that make up this phrase: vuoi Vuoi is …
The Italian word for a glass or cup from which one drinks is bicchiere (masculine, plural: bicchieri). It is thought to derive from a dialectal form of old French, or possibly the Greek βῖκος (bikos). Learn with our video Ho fatto cadere il bicchiere e si è frantumato in mille pezzi. I dropped the glass …
Accidenti! is one of the mildest interjections found in Italian. The plural of accidente (mishap or sudden illness), it is used to express a variety of emotions including wonder, anger and annoyance. Learn with our video Did you know that…?Accidenti is actually the ellipses of expressions such as ti arrivino degli accidenti or ti vengano …