Italian Word of the Day: Volare (to fly)

The verb for to fly in Italian is volare, which derives from the Latin verb of the same spelling. Below is how you would conjugate volare in the present tense: Io volo(I fly) Tu voli(You fly – informal) Lui vola(He flies) Lei vola(She flies) Lei vola(You fly – formal) Noi voliamo(We fly) Voi volate(You fly …

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Italian Word of the Day: Ricordare (to remember)

November 11th is Remembrance Day (Giorno della Memoria) in many parts of the world, so what better word to choose than ricordare, the verb that means to remember in Italian. If you have trouble remembering this verb, I find it helps to associate it with the English word record. Based on the Latin recordari, it …

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Italian Word of the Day: Novembre (November)

November, or novembre in Italian, is the month that heralds the arrival of winter in Italy, although it doesn’t officially start until December. Despite the days being short and the weather variable, it is a wonderful time to visit Italy due to fewer crowds and the spectacular autumn (autunno) landscapes. And let’s not forget that …

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Italian Word of the Day: Sorpresa (surprise)

The Italian word for surprise is sorpresa (feminine, plural: sorprese), which is the past participle of the verb sorprendere (to surprise). Both the English and Italian terms can trace their origin back to the medieval Latin verb superprehendere (to seize). Surprises can be broadly divided into two categories: belle sorprese (nice surprises) and brutte sorprese …

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Italian Word of the Day: Supermercato (supermarket)

The Italian word supermercato (masculine, plural supermercati), which is modelled on the English supermarket, is a combination of two parts: the prefix super- (meaning in this case excellent, top quality) and mercato (market). Some of the major supermarket chains (catene di supermercati) in Italy are as follows: Auchan Bennet Carrefour Conad Coop CRAI Esselunga Eurospin …

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Italian Word of the Day: Insegnante (teacher)

The word for teacher in Italian is insegnante. Derived from the verb insegnare (to teach), it can be used to talk about both male and female teachers. The difference between masculine and feminine can be highlighted by the indefinite article or an adjective: Marco è un insegnante di arte mentre Sofia è un’insegnante di fisica. …

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