There are several way to translate the word toilet in Italian. You can say bagno, but this noun also means bathroom or bath. There is the French “toilette” that is also used in the Italian language, or if you’re a bit posh, you can ask for the servizi igienici (sanitary services). But perhaps the most …
If you win the lottery, meet the man or woman of your dreams, or come into a great inheritance, your friends might say that you are fortunato (masculine) or fortunata (feminine), which is the Italian word for lucky. It has the same etymology as the synonym fortunate. Mi sento fortunato di poter vivere in Italia. …
If you aren’t an only child, chances are that you have either a sorella (sister) or a fratello (brother), or perhaps one of each, or maybe many of them. (My dad has nine siblings!) An older brother is called a fratello maggiore whereas a younger brother is a fratello minore. Alternatively, you can say fratellone …
When I moved to Italy to become an au pair in 2008, I decided that instead of flying from London to Turin, I’d take the train. Despite lasting nearly nine hours, the journey was fantastic thanks to the views of the French countryside and the Italian Alps, one of the most stunning mountain ranges I’ve …
The Italian word for blue is very simple: just chop off the e at the end of the English word and you end up with blu, which is the generic term for any shade of colour between green and violet. From there, you can choose between many variants to describe the colour with more precision: …
If you’ve just gorged yourself on ten chocolate bars or come down with a nasty stomach virus, you may be experiencing some serious mal di pancia which is the colloquial Italian word for upset stomach or stomach ache! Il bambino piangeva per il mal di pancia. The child was crying because of an upset stomach. …