I’ve always found it surprising how quickly children grow. One minute they’re in diapers, getting ready to take their first steps, and the next, they’re packing their bags for college! The word for child or boy in Italian is bambino (plural: bambini) whereas girl is bambina (plural: bambine). These words are used to describe any …
The humble tomato forms the basis of nearly all Italian cuisine. It is used to make tomato sauce for pasta and lasagne, is a key ingredient in most pizzas, and is a popular addition to many Mediterranean salads. If you thought that the Italian word for tomato would sound like the English or the Spanish …
In Italian and English, it isn’t uncommon to come across “false friends“, or in other words, vocabulary items in different languages that look or sound similar but have a completely different meaning. One of the best examples of this is the word camera (feminine, plural camere). At first glance, any English speaker would immediately assume …
Buffo is a wonderfully useful adjective that means funny, amusing or odd in English. Below are the masculine, feminine and plural forms: It is almost always used to describe someone or something that makes you smile or laugh, or that you find ironic or peculiar. Quel pagliaccio è molto buffo. Mi fa morire dal ridere! …
The very last king to rule Italy was Umberto II of the House of Savoy. Immediately following the 1946 referendum to abolish the monarchy and the transformation of Italy into a republic, he was exiled to Cascais on the Portuguese Riviera, having reigned for a mere 34 days. Umberto II’s departure marked the end of …
We already covered how to say “grandma” (nonna) in a previous article, so now it’s time to talk about the other half of the grandparent team! The most common way to say grandpa or grandfather in Italian is nonno (plural: nonni which can mean either grandpas or grandparents). Your paternal grandfather is your nonno paterno …