Italian Word of the Day: Fratello (brother)

If you aren’t an only child, chances are that you have either a sorella (sister) or a fratello (brother), or perhaps one of each, or maybe many of them. (My dad has nine siblings!) An older brother is called a fratello maggiore whereas a younger brother is a fratello minore. Alternatively, you can say fratellone …

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Italian Word of the Day: Azzurro (light blue / azure)

The Italian word for blue is very simple: just chop off the e at the end of the English word and you end up with blu, which is the generic term for any shade of colour between green and violet. From there, you can choose between many variants to describe the colour with more precision: …

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Italian Word of the Day: Unico (unique / only)

If you want to talk about something that is one of a kind, you can use the word unique in English, which translates to unico (masculine, plural: unici) and unica (feminine, plural: uniche) in Italian. La voce di Freddy Mercury era unica. Nessun altro cantava come lui. The voice of Freddy Mercury was unique. Nobody …

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Italian Word of the Day: Vino (wine)

Like food, wine plays a very important role in Italy’s commerce and culture. Mangiare (eating) together is a fundamental part of Italian social life, and whether you’re at a restaurant or someone’s house, a bottiglia (bottle) of wine is always on the table. The word for wine in Italian is vino (masculine, plural vini). As …

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Italian Word of the Day: Pane (bread)

If there is bread on the table, I can’t help myself – I’m going to eat it all, right down to the very last crumb. I’ve been a bread lover since childhood and when I was 3 years old, I refused to eat anything else. Living in different countries has allowed me to taste different …

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Italian Word of the Day: Arte (art)

Art is the uniquely human skill of being able to consciously create something beautiful or meaningful by employing skill and imagination. Typically visual but also auditory and theatrical, art can assume many forms including paintings, sculptures, music, architecture and more. In Italian, all you need to do is add an e to the end of …

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