Italian Word of the Day: Dare (to give)

Today we are going to focus on a verb that, in many ways, forms the backbone of the Italian language along with other important verbs like fare (to do/make), avere (to have) and essere (to be). That verb is dare (to give), and you can hear how it’s pronounced below: dare to give Dare may …

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Italian Word of the Day: Gattonare (to crawl / to stalk)

The verb gattonare in Italian has two meanings, depending on whether you are describing a human being or an animal. When a human, or more specifically a baby, is the subject, gattonare means to crawl. Mia figlia ha cominciato a gattonare molto presto. My daughter started crawling very early. When talking about predatory animals such …

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Italian Word of the Day: Russare (to snore)

Has your other half’s snoring been keeping you up all night? Then maybe now’s a good time to learn the Italian verb russare! Derived from the term hrūzzan, it is one of many words that entered Italian via the Lombard language of Northern Italy. Since it is a regular -are verb, it conjugates in the …

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Italian Word of the Day: Sfarfallare (to flit / to flutter)

The verb sfarfallare is the fusion of the prefix s-, the noun farfalla (butterfly) and the verb ending -are. There are more meanings associated with this word than you might think, so let’s take a look at them now! Let’s begin with the most literal definition, which is to emerge from a pupal case or …

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Italian Word of the Day: Barare (to cheat)

Nobody likes a cheater, but they exist in every game, no matter what you play. In Italian, the verb for to cheat at a game, sport or exam is barare. barare to cheat Barare is an intransitive verb that comes from baro, meaning a card sharp (or card shark)—someone who cheats at cards to win …

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Italian Word of the Day: Correre (to run)

I’m the first to admit that we don’t spend enough time discussing verbs here on Daily Italian Words, so today, let’s dive into one that you’ll encounter frequently in everyday conversation—correre (to run). correre to run The origin of correre is quite straightforward—it comes from the Latin currĕre, which carries the same meaning. Correre is …

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