Italian Word of the Day: Vecchio (old)

Do you suffer from creaky knees or find yourself struggling not to fall asleep on the couch at two in the afternoon? If so, you may be becoming vecchio, which is the word for old in Italian! Because vecchio is an adjective, the ending changes according to the gender and number of the subject it …

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Italian Word of the Day: Buio (dark)

When talking about the dark as it relates to nighttime or the absence of light, Italians use the adjective buio. The ending of buio changes depending on the gender and number of the subject it modifies. For example: Just as in English, buio can be used in a figurative sense to describe a troublesome or …

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Italian Word of the Day: Arancione (orange)

Arancione (plural: arancioni) is the word for the colour orange in Italian. It derives from the word arancia which is what Italians call the fruit of the same name. Questa arancia è più verde che arancione. Non sarà ancora matura. This orange is more green than orange. It probably isn’t ripe. The word arancio translates …

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Italian Word of the Day: Marrone (brown)

Colours are one of the first things all learners of a second language try to memorise. Today we’re taking a look at the colour brown which translates as marrone (plural: marroni) in Italian. Il nostro cane è marrone scuro come il cioccolato. Our dog is dark brown like chocolate. The diminutive form of marrone is …

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Italian Word of the Day: Felice (happy)

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 …

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Italian Word of the Day: Perfetto (perfect)

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 …

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