Heather Broster
The Italian word for life is vita (feminine, plural: vite). It shares the same root as the English words vital and vitamin, which is the Latin vita of the same spelling and meaning. In almost every sense of the word, it mirrors its English equivalent barring a few exceptions. For starters, it can refer, not …
If you’ve just had a long conversation in Italian, it is important to know how to neatly wrap it up in a friendly and natural way that won’t offend your conversation partner. One closing phrase that suits this objective perfectly is Alla prossima! which translates as Until next time! Ciao ragazzi, alla prossima! Bye guys, …
One of the first phrases travellers wish to learn when visiting a foreign country is the local equivalent of the classic greeting: Hello, how are you? In Italian, just as in English and many other languages, there are a few variations on this greeting. Which you use greatly depends on your own personal style and …
Figlio is the word for son in Italian. It derives from the Latin filius and is related to words such as femmina (female) and fecondo (fertile). It can also refer more generically to a child if the sex is unknown (as in the case of an unborn child for example). The plural figli can mean …
Last night at the dinner table, our six month old son – who usually has the attention span of a goldfish – spent the entire duration of our meal fixated on a toy horse, analysing every hoof, hair and marking on its colourful body. To describe this kind of behaviour, there is a great verb …
The word for masterpiece or best work in Italian is capolavoro (masculine, plural: capolavori). It is the combination of the words capo (head / extremity) and lavoro (work / job). Traditionally capolavoro refers to the very best piece of work by an artist or a writer, or of a particular era or style. Some examples …