According to Christian tradition, the practice of exchanging presents during Christmastime is symbolic of the presentation of the gifts gold, frankincense and myrrh to Jesus by the Three Wise Men (i Tre Re Magi). It was reinforced by the story of St. Nicholas, a fourth-century saint and secret gift-giver who gave rise to the model …
Christmas is an exciting time of the year for children because they know they will receive lots of toys under the Christmas tree! The generic word for toy or game in Italian is gioco (masculine plural: giochi). Metti via i tuoi giochi, Mattia! È ora di andare a dormire. Put your toys away, Mattia! It’s …
Are you a fan of the fluffy white stuff that falls out of the sky close to Christmastime? Well, then you might be keen to learn what it is called in Italian! The word for snow in Italian is neve (feminine, plural: nevi). It is contained within lots of words associated with snow including: Nevoso …
It is difficult to imagine Italy without conjuring up images of pane (bread), vino (wine), pasta, pizza, and of course, cheese. The generic word for cheese in Italian is formaggio (masculine, plural: formaggi) and as everyone knows, many of the most famous cheeses in the world originate from Italy. In fact, it is estimated that there …
The usage of the adjective nuovo (feminine: nuova, plural: nuovi or nuove) in Italian is almost identical to the word new in English. Just as it can refer to something that didn’t exist before, it can also describe something produced, introduced, or discovered recently or for the first time, or an unused item. Ho comprato …
There are thirty-eight big cat species in the world, but none is quite as iconic as the lion – or leone (masculine, plural: leoni) in Italian. A female lion, or lioness, is called a leonessa, whereas a lion cub can be translated as leoncino (little lion), although you will also hear cucciolo di leone. African …