Avere (to have) is one of the most important words in the Italian language. Not only does it function on its own as a verb but it also forms an essential component of compound tenses such as the passato prossimo (present perfect) and futuro anteriore (future perfect). For this reason, it appears in numerous idiomatic …
As human beings, we have the natural tendency to talk about what we want in conversation with friends and family, be it food, drink, sleep, company or something more profound. In Italian, the infinitive verb for to want is volere and when expressing a personal desire in the first person, it can be conjugated in …
According to the Roman Catholic tradition, the Italian Father’s Day (La Festa del Papà) is celebrated, not on the third Sunday in June like many other countries in the world, but on March 19th, otherwise known as Saint Joseph’s Day (La Festa di San Giuseppe). It is recognised as an important time to commemorate fatherhood, …
In English, the phrase I love you is extremely flexible. It can be used not only towards a lover or a person you’re in love with, but also family members, your children and even really good friends. In Italian however, there are two different phrases that equate to I love you and learning how they …
If you’re anything like me, you probably spend much of the day on social media platforms such as Twitter, laughing at the funny interactions, rolling your eyes at the often pointless debates or just mindlessly scrolling. But did you know that Twitter can actually serve as a great tool for learning a new language? 😀 …
Many tenses in Italian are formed by combining an auxiliary verb – either avere (to have) or essere (to be) – with the past participle of the main verb. These so-called compound tenses include the passato prossimo (present perfect), trapassato prossimo (pluperfect), futuro anteriore (future perfect), and trapassato remoto (preterite perfect). Whether the main verb …