The noun spavento (masculine, plural: spaventi) in Italian can translate in numerous ways including scare, fright, dread, terror or fear. It derives from the verb spaventare which means to frighten or to scare. It often appears in the company of the following verbs: fare spavento (a qualcuno) = to scare (somebody) mettere spavento (a qualcuno) …
An interesting adjective in Italian is entusiasta which, given its resemblance to the English, you might have guessed means enthusiastic. Unlike many other Italian adjectives, which have a masculine form ending in -o and a feminine form ending in -a, the final letter of entusiasta does not change according to the gender. So, for example, …
The word for squirrel in Italian is scoiattolo (masculine, plural: scoiattoli). Both terms can be traced back to the Greek skiouros, which is a combination of skia (shadow) and oura (tail). The diminutive scoiattolino can be used to indicate a small squirrel or a squirrel kitten. When you imagine a typical squirrel, what comes to …
The Italian word for surprise is sorpresa (feminine, plural: sorprese), which is the past participle of the verb sorprendere (to surprise). Both the English and Italian terms can trace their origin back to the medieval Latin verb superprehendere (to seize). Surprises can be broadly divided into two categories: belle sorprese (nice surprises) and brutte sorprese …
The Italian word supermercato (masculine, plural supermercati), which is modelled on the English supermarket, is a combination of two parts: the prefix super- (meaning in this case excellent, top quality) and mercato (market). Some of the major supermarket chains (catene di supermercati) in Italy are as follows: Auchan Bennet Carrefour Conad Coop CRAI Esselunga Eurospin …
The word for teacher in Italian is insegnante. Derived from the verb insegnare (to teach), it can be used to talk about both male and female teachers. The difference between masculine and feminine can be highlighted by the indefinite article or an adjective: Marco è un insegnante di arte mentre Sofia è un’insegnante di fisica. …