Heather Broster
The Italian word for chair is sedia. It comes from the ancient sieda which in turn derives from the verb sedere (to sit). Sedia is a feminine noun, and the plural is sedie. la sediauna sedia le sediedelle sedie A chair is normally made up of the following parts: Il sedile e lo schienale di …
In quanto is a commonly used conjunctive phrase in Italian that translates in numerous ways, including since, as, and because. Non lo chiamo più in quanto non risponde mai al telefono. I don’t call him anymore as he never answers the phone. Less frequently it is followed by che (that) with no change in meaning. …
Voglia is a frequently used Italian noun that has various translations depending on the context, including desire, craving, longing or wish. Fewer people know that it also means birthmark, as we’ll discover further down. The word comes from the verb volere (to want). Voglia is a feminine noun. The plural is voglie. la vogliauna voglia …
Chiave is one of those words in Italian with multiple translations, but let’s begin by looking at the most diffused meaning which is key. Chiave is a feminine noun. The plural is chiavi. la chiaveuna chiave le chiavidelle chiavi Two kinds of keys you definitely don’t want to misplace are le chiavi di casa (house …
My favourite pizza topping of all time, with perhaps the exception of gorgonzola cheese, is the anchovy. This word translates as acciuga (feminine) in Italian, though it is usually seen in its plural form acciughe (anchovies). This small oily fish is found throughout the world’s oceans, and keeps very well in oil (acciughe sott’olio), brine …
The word for acorn in Italian is ghianda (feminine, plural: ghiande). The fruit of the oak tree (quercia), it has the appearance of a smooth oval nut with a rough cup-like hat called a cupule (cupola). Acorns make up the diet of a surprising range of animals including birds like ducks (papere) and pigeons (piccioni), …