We have officially entered the first days of July (i primi giorni di luglio) which means it is time to get out the swimsuits, sunscreen and the classic Spritz – one of Italy’s favourite alcoholic summer drinks! Luglio is the seventh month (settimo mese) of the year according to the Julian and Gregorian calendars. As is the case with all months …
The word for breakfast in Italian is colazione (feminine, plural: colazioni). Traditionally, the first meal eaten just after waking up was referred to as la prima colazione (the first breakfast), whereas the midday meal was called la seconda colazione (the second breakfast). The latter has since been replaced by the word pranzo (lunch) but the …
The word for summer in Italian is estate (feminine, plural: estati). What is considered the first day of summer (il primo giorno d’estate) depends on whether you are using the meteorological (meteorologico) or astronomical (astronomico) definition of the seasons. According to the meteorological definition, summer always begins on June 1st and lasts until August 31st, …
The word for beginning or start in Italian is inizio (masculine, plural: inizi). If you find yourself struggling to remember this word, I’ve found that it helps to mentally associate it with the English word initial. It shares the same origin as other useful Italian terms such as iniziare (to begin), inizialmente (initially, at the …
The Italian word domani (tomorrow in English) comes from the Latin de mane whose rough translation is starting from the morning. Domani can be paired with different words that denote the time of day: Domani sera vado da un amico per una cena. Tomorrow evening I’m going to a friend’s house for a dinner. The …
It’s difficult to believe that we are already well into the month of May, known as maggio in Italian. Maggio is the fifth month of the year (quinto mese dell’anno) according to the Julian and Gregorian calendars. As is the case with all months of the year, maggio isn’t capitalised in Italian as it is …