Italian Word of the Day: Impacchettare (to wrap)

The key to perfect gift wrapping is the paper. If you can measure a paper that’s the ideal size for whatever present you’re wrapping, you’re good to go! (And of course, a little patience goes a long way as well!) The word for the verb to wrap in Italian is impacchettare. It is fairly easy …

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Italian Word of the Day: Festeggiare (to celebrate)

We already talked about the word festa (party / celebration) in a previous ‘word of the day’ article but did you know that you can transform it into a verb as well? The verb festeggiare means to celebrate, to party or to make merry in Italian and can be used to talk about birthdays, anniversaries …

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Italian Word of the Day: Essere (to be)

One of the first verbs all serious learners must master in Italian is essere which is the infinitive verb for to be or to exist. Because it is an irregular verb, it isn’t as easy to conjugate as regular -are, -ire and -ere verbs such as mangiare (to eat), venire (to come), and vedere (to …

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Italian Word of the Day: Mangiare (to eat)

Eating in Italy is so much more than just ingesting food. It is about friends, family, generosity, being with the people you love, sharing happiness and creating important moments together. It is a celebration of the ordinary around a table of good food. One of my fondest memories of eating in Italy is from a …

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Italian Word of the Day: Sognare (to dream)

A dream is an involuntary succession of random images, emotions, and sensations that normally occur during the REM (rapid eye movement) stage of sleep when brain activity is at its highest. Sometimes you might wake up from a deep sleep and remember every detail of your dream, whereas other times, they fade from memory as …

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Italian Word of the Day: Divertirsi (to have fun)

In Italian, there is a single reflexive verb that can be used to express the concept “to have fun” and that is divertirsi. What is a reflexive verb, you ask? Well, it is any verb whose direct object is the same as its subject. In Italian, these verbs always end in si, with some good …

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