Heather Broster
Sputare il rospo is an Italian idiom that literally translates to “spit out the toad” in English. This expression figuratively conveys the act of finally confessing something that one couldn’t or didn’t want to say, such as a secret, concern, or source of anxiety. It more or less equates to the English “to spit something …
Most learners will agree that Italian, on the whole, is a fairly easy language to pronounce. It doesn’t have as many sounds as other languages (yes, English, I’m looking at you), nor as many complex consonant clusters. Still, there are a few words that can present a challenge to English speakers, even after years of …
The masculine noun stento in Italian is used to describe a situation of severe suffering or privation, much like the word hardship in English. stento hardship It derives from the verb stentare which translates as to struggle, to find difficult or to scrape by. Because stento begins with the letters st-, it takes the following …
Did you know that there isn’t just one way to say ‘I want’ in Italian, but three? Depending on the context and the level of formality, you can use different expressions to convey your desire. Understanding these nuances adds depth to your grasp of the language and allows you to communicate more effectively in various …
Today we’ll be looking at a verb that was suggested by one of the members in our fantastic Facebook community: costeggiare. costeggiare Costeggiare is a regular -are verb, so it can be conjugated in the following manner in the present tense: (io) costeggio (tu) costeggi (lui) costeggia (lei) costeggia (Lei) costeggia (noi) costeggiamo (voi) costeggiate …
Italians love their food idioms, so much so that even the humble broth (brodo) has made its way into an everyday expression! Tutto fa brodo literally translates to “everything makes broth“. Just as any kind of vegetable or meat can become broth when boiled, any contribution to a goal or cause, no matter how small, …