The word for tiger in Italian is the feminine noun tigre (plural: tigri) which derives from the Latin tigris. It remains feminine regardless of whether you are talking about a male tiger (una tigre maschio) or a female tiger (una tigre femmina). It is the largest of the so-called big cats (grandi felini) that make …
One of two ways to translate the word together in Italian is insieme, which comes from the vulgar Latin insemel. The other is assieme, and while they are almost completely interchangeable, insieme is the term you will hear more often. Note: If you have trouble remembering this word, I find it helps to think of …
The word for dragon in Italian is drago (masculine, plural: draghi). It comes from the Latin draco which in turn comes from the Greek drakon meaning serpent. Note: Anglophone learners of Italian might be tempted to use the synonym dragone since it sounds closer to the English word but drago is the preferred term. La …
Finto, the word for fake in Italian, is the past participle of the verb fingere (to pretend). The verb comes from the Latin of the same spelling. Because it is an adjective, the final letter changes depending on whether the subject is masculine, feminine or plural: When talking about things, actions or events, finto can …
Today, my husband and I discovered a brand-new technique to help our extremely fussy baby to sleep during the day: we hold him tightly in our arms while bouncing him on an exercise ball! The word for the intransitive verb to bounce in Italian is rimbalzare. It is formed from the prefix rin- (which is …
Today was a landmark in our son’s cognitive development. At just shy of 13 weeks, he figured out how to laugh (ridere) for the first time! Sadly it wasn’t directed towards either of us but rather a particular white wall in our house of which he’s grown very fond for some reason. Ah well, a …