The word for the violent noise something makes when it smashes against a hard surface is fracasso (masculine, plural: fracassi) in Italian. Derived from the verb fracassare, it best translates into English as to smash. Learn about ‘fracasso’ with our video Il vaso si è rotto con gran fracasso. The vase broke with a loud …
The Italian word for truth is verità and it is feminine. Like all nouns ending in an accented à in Italian, the ending of the word does not change in its plural form (i.e. truths = verità). It derives from the Latin veritas and is related to English words such as verity and verify. Learn …
The word for the terrifying natural phenomenon known as an earthquake is terremoto in Italian (masculine, plural: terremoti), which comes from the Latin terrae motus meaning ‘movement of the earth’. It is a masculine noun that takes the following definite and indefinite articles: An earthquake occurs when pressure, building up within rocks of the earth‘s …
April Fools’ Day is known in Italian as pesce d’aprile which literally translates as April’s fish. Want to find out more about how April 1st is celebrated in Italy? Then read on! Similar to other countries where April Fools’ is celebrated, pesce d’aprile involves playing harmless pranks on friends and family. These pranks vary in …
The adverb perfino in Italian is made up of the prefix per– and the preposition fino (up to, as far as). It is used much in the same way as the adverb even in English, in that it emphasises something surprising or extreme. Important: perfino has an alternative form, persino, but don’t worry, they are …
The Italian word for planet is pianeta, which comes from the Greek planetes via the Latin planeta. Learn with our video It would be logical to assume that it is a feminine noun given that it ends in the letter ‘a‘, but it is actually masculine. This is likely because the archaic version of the …