Italian Word of the Day: Spesa (grocery shopping / spending / expense)

If you’ve ever visited a supermarket in Italy or casually chatted with locals about the cost of living, you’ve probably come across the word spesa. It’s a useful one to master because we use it a variety of everyday situations, from running grocery errands to talking about general expenses, and even in figurative ways. spesa …

Read more

How to form diminutives and augmentatives in Italian

Diminutives and augmentatives are everywhere in casual, spoken Italian, so if you want to sound more natural or finally understand those fast-paced movie dialogues, they’re definitely worth getting familiar with. Basically, they’re formed by adding a suffix to the end of a word to make it sound smaller, bigger, cuter, or more intense. But it’s …

Read more

Italian Word of the Day: Passo (step / move)

Passo is a masculine noun that refers to steps, rhythm, and movement – both in literal walking and in a wider, figurative sense. passo step / move It is a masculine noun whose plural form is passi. It takes the following definite and indefinite articles: Here are its main meanings in Italian: 1. PASSO = …

Read more

Italian Word of the Day: Memoria (memory)

I’m sure the word memoria feels instantly familiar, since it closely resembles “memory.” Just like in English, it can refer to remembering something, but in Italian, it carries its own nuances. memoria memory Memoria is a feminine noun, and its plural form is memorie. Here are its definite and indefinite articles: These are the main …

Read more

Italian Word of the Day: Prendere (to take)

Prendere is a key verb for speaking in Italian. It means “to take, but we use it in many everyday situations, whether we’re catching a train, grabbing a cappuccino, or coming down with a cold! prendere to take How to conjugate prendere in Italian While prendere is mostly regular, it behaves irregularly in some past tenses. …

Read more

15 Ways to Say NO in Italian

Looking for ways to sidestep a persistent vendor trying to charm you into buying a bracelet as you wander through Florence? Or maybe you’re searching for a polite way to decline that third helping of pasta from your overly generous Italian friend? Here, you’ll find 15 authentic ways to say “no” in Italian – whether …

Read more