The word for yesterday in Italian is ieri. Both this word and the ‘yester‘ in yesterday can be traced back to a common Indo-European root shared by the Latin heri and the Greek khthes. As in English, the Italian ieri can be divided into the four times of day: The day before yesterday can be …
The word for friendship in Italian is amicizia (feminine, plural: amicizie). It derives from the Latin amicitia of the same meaning. A few common verbs you’ll see used with amicizia include: Ho fatto amicizia con la signora anziana che vive nella casa accanto. I’ve made friends with the elderly lady who lives next door. Metaphorically …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …