Today’s phrase is part of our Italian Christmas Word Advent Calendar series. Each day throughout December, we’ll post a word or phrase that is related to the holiday season. Enjoy! Americans greet one another with Merry Christmas! whereas the British tend to prefer Happy Christmas! but what about Italians? The Italian Christmas greeting you will hear most …
Chissà is an interesting word in Italian because it is an abbreviation of chi lo sa (literally, who knows it). The accent on the à tells you that the stress falls on the final syllable. When used on its own in response to a question, its closest translation is Who knows! or Goodness knows! in …
If you are lost in the middle of an Italian city, a useful phrase to have in your arsenal is Dove si trova …? The literal translation is Where is … found? but it is the same as saying Where is …? or Where can I find …? in English. Dove si trova la stazione? …
A question that is rarely asked in real-world conversations, but almost always taught during the first lessons of any language course, is How old are you? or Quanti anni hai? in Italian. Quanti anni hai? – Ho tre anni e mezzo! How old are you? – I’m three and a half! It is important to …
If you’ve only just arrived in Italy and your vocabulary hasn’t progressed far beyond ciao and grazie, there is a survival phrase you should definitely make an effort to learn: Do you speak English? Italian has both formal and informal registers, so if you’re addressing a stranger on the street or in a shop, the …
If you’ve just met someone new in Italy, one of the first things you’ll want to find out in order to avoid an embarrassing situation in the future is their name! (That is, if you manage to remember it, of course!) The most common way to ask What is your name? in Italian in an …