The Italian word frutta, like the word fruit in English, is a singular collective noun that refers to the category fruit in general, or a collection of fruit on display in a basket. It may also specifically denote the fruit course Italians tend to consume at the end of lunch. Frutta is almost always used …
The word for summer in Italian is estate (feminine, plural: estati). estate What is considered the first day of summer (il primo giorno d’estate) depends on whether you are using the meteorological (meteorologico) or astronomical (astronomico) definition of the seasons. According to the meteorological definition, summer always begins on June 1st and lasts until August …
The word for bear in Italian is orso and it derives from the Latin word ursus. It is a masculine noun that takes the following definite and indefinite articles: Today only eight species of bear are still in existence: Bears – like humans – tend to be omnivorous (onnivoro) with the only exceptions being the …
There is a great Italian word for someone who eats with his mouth open, talks back to his parents, and disturbs other people by making too much noise, and that is maleducato. Maleducato translates into English as rude, impolite or ill-mannered and may refer to a person’s speech or behaviour. A volte quel ragazzo è …
Tourism is one of Italy’s most profitable industrial sectors, with an estimated 47.7 million turisti (tourists, singular turista) visiting the country every year. That makes it the fifth most visited country in the world! An interesting fact about the word turista is that unlike many Italian words, it derives not from Latin but rather from …
When you meet someone for the first time in Italy, it’s extremely important to know how to introduce yourself. The classic textbook phrase everyone learns on their first day of Italian lessons is Ciao, mi chiamo… which means Hello, my name is… but literally translates as Hello, I call myself… Ciao, mi chiamo Matteo. Hello, …