I don’t know about you, but I tend to be irresistibly drawn to words that sound exactly like the thing or action they describe. These onomatopoeic gems are relatively rare but I find that they infuse language with such flavour and vibrance, especially in one as naturally melodic as Italian! Today we will be talking …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …
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 …