Heather Broster
If you’ve just scoffed down ten chocolate bars or come down with a nasty stomach virus, you may be experiencing some serious mal di pancia, which is the colloquial Italian word for upset stomach or stomach ache! mal di pancia stomach ache Mal is the abbreviated version of male (bad / pain), whereas pancia is …
A question that is rarely asked in real-world conversations, but almost always taught during the first lessons of any language course, is How old are you? or Quanti anni hai? in Italian. Quanti anni hai? – Ho tre anni e mezzo! How old are you? – I’m three and a half! It is important to …
Air – or aria (feminine, plural: arie) in Italian – is fundamental to all life on earth. Without air, or more specifically oxygen (ossigeno), the human body can only survive for a few minutes before it begins to fail. In addition to being the means by which winged animals and machines fly (volare), it is …
The Italian word for daughter is figlia (plural: figlie) which is the feminine equivalent of figlio (son). figlia daughter Figlia is quite obviously a feminine noun. Here are its definite and indefinite articles: Ho una figlia e due figli. I have a daughter and two sons. It can also refer to young girl in general, …
All languages have their own way of fare un brindisi, or toasting the health of other people. In English, we say Cheers!, in Japanese they say Kampai! and in French you’ll hear À votre santé! but what about Italian? Well, a favourite amongst learners is the onomatopoeic expression Cin cin! (pronounced chin chin). Cin cin …
The word welcome – as in the polite and friendly greeting you use upon someone’s arrival – can be translated as benvenuto in Italian. benvenuto welcome The end of the word changes depending on whether you are addressing a man, woman or multiple men and women. Benvenuti alla mia festa! Welcome to my party! The …