If you’re acquainted with the English words diverting and diversion, recalling the Italian word for ‘fun‘ or ‘entertaining‘ shouldn’t be too challenging – it’s divertente. It is the present participle of the verb divertire, meaning ‘to amuse‘ or ‘to entertain‘ but also ‘to have fun‘ in its reflexive form divertirsi (literally “to amuse oneself“). Divertire, …
In Italian, a positive way to describe a person or an action is by using the adjective carino. Carino is the diminutive form of caro, which translates to dear. It can be used in its masculine form, carino, feminine form, carina, or in their respective plural forms, carini and carine. When referring to a deed …
While it might be tempting to assume that the Italian adjective contento is the direct counterpart of the English content, it actually encompasses a slightly broader range of meanings as we’ll soon discover. The most common translations for contento are glad and happy. Like its English counterparts, it denotes a subdued or contained kind of …
Did you know that there are numerous ways to translate the word “crazy“ into Italian? One of the most frequently used translations is the adjective folle, which happens to be our word of the day! folle crazy / foolish The word comes from the Latin follem, meaning inflated ball or bellows, and by extension, an …
When describing something that has exceeded its normal dimensions, Italians often use the adjective gonfio (feminine: gonfia, plural: gonfi / gonfie). gonfio First and foremost, you can use it to describe something filled with air, in which case we’d generally use the adjective inflated in English. For example, an inflated balloon would be un palloncino …
Today we’re going to be looking at the Italian word secco, whose principal translation is dry in English. It comes from the Latin siccus of the same meaning. Because secco is an adjective, the ending changes in accordance with the gender and/or plurality of the subject: Broadly speaking, secco can refer to anything that lacks …