Mio figlio (my son) has never been a fan of peas. Put a plate of them in front of him and you’d think I’d served him a bowl of tiny green villains. He’ll happily eat pasta, most kinds of minestra (soup) and practically anything else Italian, but peas? Absolutely not. Which is kind of a …
A few days ago, we learned everything there is to know about the word dopo, and today, we’re going to investigate its contrario (opposite): prima. Suffice it to say, it has just as many (if not more) translations as dopo! If you’re struggling to remember this word, just think of the operatic term prima donna, …
Feeling exhausted lately? Believe me, you’re not alone. Maybe it’s the relentless summer heat draining your energy, or, like me, un bambino birichino (mischievous boy) who’s had you up before sunrise every single day since birth. Whatever the cause, there’s a perfect Italian word that captures it all: spossatezza. spossatezza fatigue / lethargy / exhaustion …
A common noun with a dual meaning in Italian is tenda, which can be translated as either curtain (or drapes in US English) or tent depending on the context. Let’s discover it now! tenda curtain / tent The word derives from the Medieval Latin word tenda. It is a derivative of the Latin verb tendĕre, …
Proprio is one of those sneaky little Italian words that seems to pop up everywhere. In fact, I don’t think five minutes ever go by without me slipping a proprio into one of my sentences. Its sheer ubiquity, in addition to the fact that it can function as an adjective, adverb, pronoun, and noun, is …
Some Italian words look unmistakably Italian: just think of casa, mangiare, bellissimo. What makes them look Italian? Well, they all end in a vowel, for one! Other words, however, can catch you totally off guard because they don’t seem particularly Italian at all. Sometimes they even look more like English, French, or, as in the …