Colours are one of the first things all learners of a second language try to memorise. Today we’re taking a look at the colour brown which translates as marrone (plural: marroni) in Italian. Il nostro cane è marrone scuro come il cioccolato. Our dog is dark brown like chocolate. The diminutive form of marrone is …
I’ve always found it fascinating that the word paese (masculine, plural: paesi) in Italian can refer to one of the largest places where people live (country or nation), as well as one of the smallest (town or village). Whether you mean one or the other is explicated by the context, as you can see by …
The word for young lady in Italian is signorina (feminine, plural: signorine). It derives from the word signora meaning lady or woman. The suffixes -ino / -ina are used to form diminutives, so signorina literally means little lady. L’ho conosciuta quando era una bambina, ma ora è diventata una signorina. I met her when she …
The Italian word for apple is mela (feminine, plural: mele) and the tree upon which they grow is called melo. Both words derive from the Latin word “mālum” meaning “any tree-fruit fleshy on the outside and having a kernel within.” (Lewis & Short Latin Dictionary) Today it forms the basis of many fruit names in …
The word for night in Italian is notte (feminine, plural: notti). Even if you’ve only been studying Italian for a few short weeks, you will certainly have encountered the greeting buona notte which means good night. Buona notte Alice, e grazie ancora di tutto! Good night, Alice, and thanks again for everything! Occasionally, Italians use …
Have you got a romantic side to you? If so, let’s take a look at the word for heart in Italian, which is cuore (masculine, plural: cuori). As in English, the word cuore can refer to the muscular organ that pumps blood around the body, the symbol ♥ represented by two equal curves meeting at …