If you are familiar with the English word felicity, then you will have no trouble guessing the meaning of our word of the day: felice (happy, cheerful). Because felice is an adjective that ends in e, the ending only changes when the subject is plural (felici). In the singular, it remains felice regardless of whether …
Many nouns and adjectives that end in -ct in English take the ending -tto in Italian. This includes words like oggetto (object), architetto (architect) and our “word of the day” perfetto (perfect). However, unlike English, the ending of perfetto changes depending on how many subjects are involved (singular versus plural) and the gender of the …
The Italian word for fast or quick is veloce. It derives from the Latin word velox meaning quick. When I was first learning Italian, I found this word very easy to remember because it shares the same origin as the English word velocity, not to mention the name of everyone’s favourite dinosaur in Jurassic Park, …
The usage of the adjective nuovo (feminine: nuova, plural: nuovi or nuove) in Italian is almost identical to the word new in English. Just as it can refer to something that didn’t exist before, it can also describe something produced, introduced, or discovered recently or for the first time, or an unused item. Ho comprato …
You may already be familiar with the word forte, as it is the term we use in English for a thing at which someone excels (in other words, someone’s strong suit). Although this meaning exists in Italian as well, the primary meaning of forte (plural: forti) is strong. Carlo è forte ma se la tira …
The word for small or little in Italian is piccolo (masculine). The feminine form is piccola and the plural forms are piccoli (masculine) and piccole (feminine). As in English, you can use the adjective to describe something that is small in size. Ho comprato questa piccola caffettiera oggi. Era in offerta. I bought this small …