Italian Word of the Day: Dunque (therefore / so / well / point)

Some words are staples of everyday conversation, and in Italian, dunque is one of them. dunque so / therefore / well Dunque is a conjunction, adverb and even a noun as we’ll discover further down. It originates from Late Latin dunc, which is likely a blend of dumque (meaning “while, at the same time”) and …

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Italian Word of the Day: Ormai (now / at this point / already / almost)

Some Italian words take time to master because they lack a precise or direct equivalent in English. The adverb ormai is a prime example of this. ormai While ormai is commonly translated as now, by now, at this point, nearly, finally, anymore, and already, it’s not always clear when each translation is appropriate. Given its …

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Italian Word of the Day: Laggiù (over there / down there)

One of the most amusing memories I have from the past year involves strolling around Cardiff with my dad and young son, who speaks Italian as his first language. Out of the blue, my dad turns to me and asks, “What does ‘a-choo‘ mean?” It took me a moment to realise he had caught onto …

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Italian Word of the Day: Mai (ever / never / not ever)

Mai is one of those indispensable adverbs in the Italian language that can mean either “ever” or “never / not ever”. Its pronunciation is identical to the English word “my”. It derives from the Latin magis, meaning “more” or “greater”. mai ever / never / not ever When the meaning of mai is negative (i.e. …

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Italian Word of the Day: Qualcosa (something / anything)

Today we’re going to be investigating one of the most commonly used indefinite pronouns in Italian: qualcosa (something / anything). Derived from qualche (some) and cosa (thing), it is used to indicate one or more things that are unspecified or unknown. qualcosa something / anything Qualcosa usually translates as something in English and both occur …

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