It is difficult to imagine Italy without conjuring up images of pane (bread), vino (wine), pasta, pizza, and of course, cheese. The generic word for cheese in Italian is formaggio (masculine, plural: formaggi) and as everyone knows, many of the most famous cheeses in the world originate from Italy. In fact, it is estimated that there …
The Italian word for the beautiful blue planet we all call home is la Terra (the Earth). It is normally spelled with a capital T in scientific contexts. Terra La Terra gira intorno al Sole. The Earth revolves around the Sun. Terra in its uncapitalised form (plural: terre) may be used to refer to the …
Vinegar, or aceto as it is known in Italian, has a surprisingly wide variety of industrial and domestic uses due to its mild acidity (acidità). It is a common ingredient in cooking and is also popular as a natural household cleaner (detergente). Spesso uso l’aceto per pulire il lavandino. I often use vinegar to clean the sink. …
Ferro (plural: ferri) may not seem like a very interesting word on the surface, but dig a little deeper and you’ll soon discover that it forms the basis of many terms and expressions in both Italian and English! Il ferro si usa solitamente per produrre acciaio. Iron is normally used to produce steel. For example, …
There are thirty-eight big cat species in the world, but none is quite as iconic as the lion – or leone (masculine, plural: leoni) in Italian. A female lion, or lioness, is called a leonessa, whereas a lion cub can be translated as leoncino (little lion), although you will also hear cucciolo di leone. African …
An island – or isola (feminine, plural: isole) in Italian – can be formed in three different ways. The first is when continental plates (placche continentali) collide and push land up above the ocean’s surface. The second is when underwater volcanoes (vulcani sottomarini) continuously erupt in one area, causing land to form. The third is through …