A soiled diaper. A smelly sock. Or a dead spider in your bathtub. All of these can be succinctly described with a single Italian noun: schifo (gross / yuck / disgust). schifo gross / yuck / disgust The term has roots in the Old French eschif and Old Franconian *skiuhjan, meaning to respect / revere …
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. …
The polite way to refer to man in Italian is signore. It differs from uomo in that the latter is less polite and is used to generically refer to a human being or mankind. signore It should come as little surprise that signore is a masculine noun, and therefore, it is used with the following …
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 …
Prezzo is a masculine noun that means price or cost in English. It is derived from the Latin pretium meaning value or reward. prezzo price Il venditore mi ha fatto un buon prezzo per questo divano. The seller gave me a good price for this couch. Quanto costa questo libro? Non vedo il prezzo. How much is this …
Stasera, meaning this evening, is one of the very first and most essential adverbs of time you’ll encounter when delving into the Italian language. It is the combination of the adjective questa (this), with the removal of the initial que-, and sera (evening). stasera this evening In everyday conversation, stasera is used more commonly than …