People across the world are familiar with the informal Italian greeting Ciao! (pronounced CHOW) which can be used at the start of a conversation to greet someone, or at end of a conversation to sign off. The meaning is exactly the same as Hi! and Bye! in English. Ciao Enrica, come stai? Hi Enrica, how …
This week, we’ve chosen a classic Italian expression with which I imagine the vast majority of you are already very familiar! 🙂 Grazie! is the equivalent of Thank you! or Thanks! in Italian. It is the plural of the noun grazia which literally translates as grace, gracefulness, favour or generosity depending on the context. Ricordati …
If you’ve been learning Italian for a while now, you may already be familiar with the classic greeting Buongiorno! which is how to say Good day! / Good morning! / Hello! in a formal context. Buongiorno. Come sta? Good morning! How are you? If you want to explicitly wish someone a good day however, it …
Every year, Mother’s Day (known as La Festa della Mamma in Italian) falls on the second Sunday in May in most countries across the world including Italy, the United States, Canada, and Australia. It marks a special time honouring all kinds of mothers, from birth mothers (mamme biologiche) and grandmothers (nonne) to adoptive mothers (mamme …
If you’re experiencing sadness from the absence of a family member, close friend, lover or spouse, a good phrase to know is I miss you which translates as (Tu) mi manchi in Italian. In conversation, the personal pronoun tu is almost always omitted since the grammatical person is clear from the conjugation of the verb …
Scarpetta in Italian is the diminutive of scarpa, the word for shoe or boot. It refers to any small shoe including a child’s shoe, a small and elegant shoe that ladies wear, or a flat sports shoe made of light and flexible material such as canvas or rubber. The idiomatic expression fare la scarpetta (lit: …