The word for hope in Italian is speranza (feminine, plural speranze). It bears no relation to the English word but if you understand some French, you’ll notice that it is similar to the word espoir. It is related to the verb sperare meaning to hope. Some other words with the same origin include: speranzoso = …
The word for cousin in Italian is cugino. Unlike the English word however, you can specify the gender of the person by changing the last letter of the word. A male cousin is a cugino and a female cousin is a cugina. There are also masculine and feminine versions of the plural cousins. Many male …
The word potere (masculine, plural: poteri) in Italian can act as either a noun or a modal verb. When used as the former, it translates as power in most cases. Both potere and power can mean various things depending on the context, including authority or special ability. Il capo del governo ha il potere di …
If you are familiar with the English word felicity, then you will have no trouble guessing the meaning of our word of the day: felice (happy, cheerful). Because felice is an adjective that ends in e, the ending only changes when the subject is plural (felici). In the singular, it remains felice regardless of whether …
The mere mention of the word “Italy” is likely to conjure up thoughts of all the gastronomic delights one can experience when visiting or living there, including wine (vino), pizza, gelato and of course, pasta! In English and Italian, the mass noun pasta (feminine, plural: paste) refers to any dish consisting of dough made from durum wheat and …
The name we give the bright star (stella) at the centre of our solar system is the Sun (Sole) with a capital letter S. The word sole can be used to describe not just the star itself but also the light (sunlight or sunshine) it generates. When referring to the light, you must use the …