Upon seeing the -ERE verb pretendere in Italian, you would be forgiven for assuming that it means “to pretend”. In actual fact, pretendere is a classic example of a false friend, or a word that looks or sounds similar to a word in another language but has a different meaning. In Italian, pretendere tends to …
Italian verbs can be divided into three families, called “conjugations”, based on the ending of the infinitive. Verbs ending in -are belong to the first conjugation, those in -ere to the second conjugation and those in -ire to the third conjugation. Avere (“to have”) and essere (“to be”) are the only exceptions since they belong …
If you want to say “to realise” in Italian, it is possible to use the cognate realizzare, but if your aim is to sound like a true native, why not try dropping the odd “rendersi conto” into your exchanges as well? Rendersi conto is made up of: In order to make a sentence with this …
The verb ululare (and its English cognate to ululate) descends from the Latin verb ululare, meaning to howl or to wail. The Latin root carried the same meaning as the modern Italian word, and almost certainly originated from the howling sound associated with it. Ululare is a regular -are verb, so it can be conjugated …
The verb sbucciare means to peel, to shell, or to husk in Italian. In other words, it denotes the action of removing the skin from a fruit, vegetable or nut. Sbucciare is composed of the s- prefix, which in this case denotes the absence or loss of some quality or attribute that is normally present, …
Have you ever found yourself racking your brains trying to find the answer to a problem? Then today’s verb is for you! Scervellarsi (to rack one’s brains) is made up of the noun cervello (brain) and the prefix s- which in this case denotes the absence or loss of something. About the pronunciationThe combination of …