Fatherhood – known as paternità in Italian – plays an extremely important role in family and society, and Italy is no exception. In fact, in the Italian language, there are six different ways to refer to the most important male figure in our lives. And with Father’s Day (la Festa del Papà) just around the …
First impressions matter. And first impressions often start at “hello”. How, then, do you say “hello” in Italian? In any language, there are many different ways to express the same idea. Some words or phrases imply friendliness and are perfect for a casual setting: “Hey, man, what’s happening?” On the other hand, some greetings are …
One of the most insidious obstacles on the way to speaking correct Italian is distinguishing the different uses of the verbs conoscere and sapere which both translate as “to know”. The problem, in its simplest representation, is the following: In this article, we will first examine these two verbs separately, then we will look in …
Apologies can be quite challenging. Even the legendary Elton John, in all his musical glory, admitted that “sorry” seems to be the hardest word. Add to that the fact that we have many ways to say sorry in Italian and it becomes clear that apologising can be quite complex. Given its richness and expressive nature, …
Welcome to our third encounter with the subjunctive: if you have read our previous articles, you should have a clear idea of how to use this important verb mood; if you have not read them yet, you can find them here and here. Today we will conclude our journey by talking about the subjunctive ‘in …
In this article, I’d like to explore a very common error that learners of Italian, especially native English speakers, tend to make. It concerns two expressions: avere senso and fare senso. Although they both contain the word senso (sense), the difference in their meaning couldn’t be greater. Avere senso / Fare senso In English, when …