Today we’re going to be taking a look at the advanced adverb oltremodo which means extremely or exceedingly. It is the combination of the words oltre (beyond, over) and modo (way), and can be written as two separate words. Oltremodo normally appears after verbs and before adjectives and nouns. For example: annoiarsi oltremodo (verb + …
If you want to say “to realise” in Italian, it is possible to use the cognate realizzare, but if your aim is to sound like a true native, why not try dropping the odd “rendersi conto” into your exchanges as well? Rendersi conto is made up of: In order to make a sentence with this …
The word capatina in Italian means a quick or flying visit. It is the diminutive form of capata (capata + -ina), which means exactly the same thing but, for some reason, isn’t used with the same frequency as capatina. Because it is a feminine noun, capatina takes the following definite and indefinite articles: la capatinauna …
The word for an hourglass or egg timer in Italian is clessidra. It derives from the Latin clepsydra which in turn comes from the Greek klepsýdra (water clock). Clessidra is a feminine noun and takes the following articles: Hourglasses were commonly used by ancient people to measure il passaggio del tempo (the passage of time) …
Today’s word of the day is fiuto, which comes from the verb fiutare meaning to to smell / to sniff. Fiuto is a masculine noun, so it takes the following definite and indefinite articles. il fiutoun fiuto i fiutidei fiuti Fiuto is most frequently used to talk about an animal’s sense of smell, or even …
Tea will forever be my preferred hot drink, whether I’m at home, in a coffee shop, or on the road travelling. And if someone serves me a bad cuppa in the morning – well – that’s enough to put me in a bad mood for the rest of my day! Italians have the same affinity …