Heather Broster
If you have started reading more advanced material in Italian, such as newspapers or journals, you will certainly have come across the word bensì. Composed of the words bene (good) and sì (yes), bensì is mainly used as a conjunction whose purpose is to introduce a statement that opposes or contradicts a previous statement. It …
Dreams, those ethereal and enigmatic realms of our imagination, have captivated human minds for centuries. In the Italian language, the word for dream is sogno, which comes from the Latin word of the same meaning, somnium. Sogno, being a masculine noun, takes the following definite and indefinite articles: It is closely related to the verb …
Do you often find yourself a million miles away while listening to other people speak? Then today’s word is for you! Sovrappensiero is an adverb that means “lost in thought” “absent-mindedly” or “distractedly”. It is the combination of sovra- (a variant of sopra- meaning “above” or “over”) and pensiero (thought). The addition of the extra …
Is there someone in your life whom you know so well that you can almost anticipate their every action? Then today’s Italian idiom will put a smile on your face! Conosco i miei polli literally translates to “I know my chickens,” and although I’m sad to say that we don’t have a matching idiom in …
In order to describe someone’s character, personality or disposition in Italian, you need to know the word carattere. Carattere has its etymology from the Latin word character and ultimately derives from the Greek term kharaktḗr, which means “a stamping tool”. It is a masculine noun that takes the following definite and indefinite articles: Bruno ha …
In this article, we delve into the essence of the Italian adjective giocoso, which usually translates as playful or jovial. Giocoso is an adjective whose form changes depending on what it describes. In its masculine form, it ends in -o and in its feminine form, -a. The respective plurals are -i and -e. It comes …