Heather Broster
The word bebè (masculine, invariable) is an affectionate way of saying baby or infant in Italian. It entered the language via the French bébé which itself comes from the English baby. Although the most commonly used terms for baby are bambino for a boy and bambina for a girl, they are somewhat problematic as they …
The word disfare in Italian is a combination of the prefix dis- (the equivalent of the English prefix un-) and the verb fare (to do / make). In addition to the verb to undo, which is the most literal translation, there are multiple ways of expressing this word in English, and as always, the surrounding …
The adverbial phrase a malapena means barely, scarcely, hardly, just about or only just in English. /ma·la·pé·na/ In both languages, these expressions often (albeit not always) imply some degree of hardship or difficulty. Il paziente con la bronchite riesce a malapena a respirare. The patient with bronchitis is hardly able to breathe.The patient with bronchitis …
Sfida (feminine, plural: sfide) is the Italian word for challenge. It refers to the act of challenging someone to a battle, duel, race or any other kind of competition to decide who is superior in terms of ability or strength. It comes from the verb sfidare which means to challenge or to defy. Some verbs …
A fun Italian word that sounds just like its meaning is ruzzolone (masculine, plural: ruzzoloni), which translates as a tumble or hard fall in English. It derives from the verb ruzzolare (to tumble / to roll) which can ultimately be traced back to the Latin word rota meaning wheel. To take a tumble translates as …
Last year, we covered how to say “I’m hungry!” in Italian, so today we’re going to look at what to say when you’re feeling a little (or very) parched! Ho sete! I’m thirsty! Let’s break the phrase down into its component parts: ho The first person singular conjugation of avere (to have). Note that Italians …