Heather Broster
Some words in Italian you will hear multiple times during the course of the day, and dopo is one of them. What’s more, it can function, not only as an adverb, but also as a preposition, conjunction, adjective and noun – talk about flexible! dopo after / later / next 1. DOPO as an adverb …
Have you ever created, designed or written something that you were extremely proud of because you did it all by yourself? If so, today’s Italian idiom is for you! essere farina del proprio sacco to be one’s own work Essere farina del proprio sacco is a frequently used Italian idiomatic expression that describes something entirely …
The Italian adjective molle is used to describe things that yield to touch or pressure. In English, we might use descriptors such as soft, flabby or damp depending on the object being described, but in Italian, molle neatly covers all these translations. molle soft / flabby / damp In Italian, adjectives always agree with the …
If you’ve ever tried to describe someone as beautiful in English, you might opt for phrases like natural beauty or fresh-faced. But in Italian, they take a much more literal – and, dare I say, charming – approach. Enter the idiomatic expression acqua e sapone, which translates as water and soap. Yes, you read that …
If you want to talk about older boys and young men in Italian, there is no better word than ragazzo. Let’s discover it now! ragazzo boy / guy / young man / boyfriend Ragazzo comes from the Arabic word raqqāṣ (رقّاص), which originally meant something like messenger, courier, or errand boy. This Arabic word was …
Those of you who have been following Daily Italian Words from the very beginning will know that I’m a native English speaker raising my son in my non-native language: Italian. It’s hard to believe, but he turned six a few months ago – yep, he’s almost as old as this website! He is now fully …