Italian Word of the Day: Fiume (river)

If you are already familiar with the English word fluvial, you will have no trouble whatsoever remembering the Italian word for river which is fiume (masculine, plural: fiumi). The longest river in Italy, il Fiume Po, runs through the city of Turin where my husband was born. It flows 405 miles from its source near the …

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Italian Word of the Day: Pulito (clean)

The adjective pulito, whose primary translation is clean in English, is the past participle of the verb pulire (to clean). It comes from the Latin verb ‘polire’ of the same meaning. Pulito is the masculine singular form of this adjective. In order to make it feminine, it is necessary to change the word final o …

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Italian Word of the Day: Pigro (lazy)

Today we’re talking about one of my all-time favourite Italian words: pigro (lazy)! As with all adjectives with a word final o, you must change the ending according to the gender and number of the subject. pigro = masculine, singular pigra = feminine, singular pigri = masculine, plural pigre = feminine, plural Sono troppo pigro …

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Italian Word of the Day: Luna (moon)

The name given to the celestial body that orbits around our earth is luna (feminine, plural: lune) in Italian. La luna impiega un mese per orbitare intorno alla terra. The moon takes a month to orbit around the earth. Just as in English, it is also the word used to denote the natural satellite of any planet, …

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Italian Word of the Day: Stanco (tired)

The word for tired in Italian is stanco. It is derived from the verb stancare meaning to tire or to wear out. The feminine and plural forms of stanco are as follows: To say that you feel tired in Italian, you can use the expression mi sento stanco. Mi sento molto stanco oggi quindi non …

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Italian Phrase of the Week: Va bene. (Fine. / Okay. / Alright.)

If you’ve been living in Italy for any amount of time, you will have surely come across the phrase va bene in conversation! Literally translating as (it) goes well, it can be used as a substitute for the affirmative responses okay, alright or (that’s) fine in English. Mangiamo fuori stasera? – Va bene. Shall we …

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