The word assaggio (masculine, plural: assaggi) in Italian refers to a small portion of food or drink taken as a sample. In English, it is best translated as taste, but other possibilities include sip (when talking about drinks), bite or nibble to name a few. Combined with the verb fare (to do / make), you …
Sopravvissuto, the word for survivor in Italian, comes from the verb sopravvivere meaning to survive. It is formed of two parts: sopra (above) and vissuto (past participle of vivere ‘to live’). If you are talking about a woman instead of a man, the masculine sopravvissuto becomes the feminine sopravvissuta. Their respective plurals are sopravvissuti and …
Today, my husband and I discovered a brand-new technique to help our extremely fussy baby to sleep during the day: we hold him tightly in our arms while bouncing him on an exercise ball! The word for the intransitive verb to bounce in Italian is rimbalzare. It is formed from the prefix rin- (which is …
Acid reflux (reflusso gastrico) is where stomach acid travels up to your throat from your stomach. It can cause a burning sensation in your chest which is colloquially known as bruciore di stomaco (heartburn) in Italian. The literal translation is burning of the stomach. It is a masculine noun and the plural is bruciori. Below …
The word for both peanut and the peanut plant in Italian is arachide (feminine, plural: arachidi). Just as you can call a peanut a groundnut, goober or monkey nut in English, Italian too has three synonyms: nocciola americana, pistacchio di terra and cece di terra. Le arachidi sono il mio snack preferito. Peanuts are my …
Today we’re going to talk about a little word with a very big meaning: the adverb cioè. It is a fusion of the pronoun ciò (this, that) and è, which is the verb essere (to be) conjugated in the third person singular of the present tense. Cioè is used to introduce detailed information, a correction …