The adverbial phrase a malapena means barely, scarcely, hardly, just about or only just in English. /ma·la·pé·na/ In both languages, these expressions often (albeit not always) imply some degree of hardship or difficulty. Il paziente con la bronchite riesce a malapena a respirare. The patient with bronchitis is hardly able to breathe.The patient with bronchitis is scarcely able to … [Read more...] about Italian Word of the Day: A malapena (barely / just about)
Adverbs
Italian Word of the Day: Al di là (on the other side / beyond)
Al di là is an adverbial phrase that translates as on the other side or beyond. It is made up of the following components: al = a (to) + il (the)di = of là = there or over there Al di là c'era il deserto, immenso e dominato da dune enormi. Beyond lay the desert, immense and dominated by enormous dunes. When used as a preposition, it translates as on the other side. These … [Read more...] about Italian Word of the Day: Al di là (on the other side / beyond)
Italian Word of the Day: A crepapelle (to the point of bursting)
Crepapelle, or more specifically a crepapelle, is one of those Italian expressions that does not have a direct English equivalent. Comprising the words crepare (to crack / to die) and pelle (skin), it describes various actions that are carried out to the point of bursting or to the breaking point. The best way to understand how it is used is to memorise the set idiomatic expressions in which … [Read more...] about Italian Word of the Day: A crepapelle (to the point of bursting)
Italian Word of the Day: Oggi (today)
The word for today in Italian is oggi. It derives from the Latin hŏdie which itself is a contraction of hoc die (on this day). Ieri mi hai detto che l'incontro si sarebbe tenuto oggi, ma in realtà ho scoperto che si svolge domani! Yesterday you told me the meeting would be held today but I found out it's actually taking place tomorrow! If you want to stress the fact that you are … [Read more...] about Italian Word of the Day: Oggi (today)
Italian Word of the Day: Volentieri (willingly / with pleasure)
An extremely useful word in Italian is volentieri and if you learn to use it correctly, you'll be one step closer to sounding like a native speaker! It comes from the French word volontiers which in turn derives from the Latin voluntarie. Volentieri can translate in numerous ways depending on the context, though in every case, it indicates a sincere willingness to do something. These … [Read more...] about Italian Word of the Day: Volentieri (willingly / with pleasure)
Italian Word of the Day: Abbastanza (enough)
A handy word you will find yourself using all the time in Italian is abbastanza. It comes from the ancient form a (to) + bastanza (an antiquated derivative of bastare = to suffice). The doubling of the letter b can be attributed to a linguistic phenomenon called syntactic gemination. There are two predominant translations for abbastanza. The first is enough and the second is fairly / quite / … [Read more...] about Italian Word of the Day: Abbastanza (enough)