Heather Broster
The word for blood in Italian is sangue (masculine). If you have trouble remembering this term, I find it helps to think of the English word sanguine, which shares the same Latin origin (sanguis). Below are a few verbs that are often used with sangue: When describing something related to blood, the adjective sanguigno is …
September, or settembre in Italian, is easily my favourite month of the year. The days are warm without being oppressively so, the nights are cool, there is still enough daylight to enjoy outdoor activities in the late afternoon, and you can smell the arrival of autumn in the air. Settembre is the ninth month (nono …
The word for elbow in Italian is gomito (masculine). It derives from the Latin term cubitus. Like many other parts of the body, gomito has a masculine and feminine plural form despite being a masculine noun. The masculine plural i gomiti is widely accepted as the standard form whereas the feminine plural le gomita is …
Purtroppo, which is the word for unfortunately in Italian, is an adverb that derives from the union of two words: pure (which indicates something extra) and troppo (too much / too many). When joined, pure loses the final e. Originally, purtroppo had the meaning of pure se è troppo (even if it is too much) …
As human beings, we have the natural tendency to talk about what we want in conversation with friends and family, be it food, drink, sleep, company or something more profound. In Italian, the infinitive verb for to want is volere and when expressing a personal desire in the first person, it can be conjugated in …
If someone inconveniences you or unintentionally causes you offence, a handy phrase you can use to reassure or comfort him or her is Non fa niente, which is one way of saying It doesn’t matter in Italian. It is made up of the following components: Non (negation) + fa (third person of fare ‘to do/make‘) …