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 and of course, Christmas and the holiday season.
The conjugation of festeggiare in the present tense is as follows:
- (Io) festeggio = I celebrate
- (Tu) festeggi = You celebrate
- (Lui / Lei) festeggia = He / She celebrates
- (Noi) festeggiamo = We celebrate
- (Voi) festeggiate = You all celebrate
- (Loro) festeggiano = They celebrate
Quest’anno festeggiamo il Natale a Napoli.
This year we are celebrating Christmas in Naples.
In Italian, the verb celebrare also exists and although it looks similar to the English celebrate, it is actually closer in meaning to commemorate, officiate or praise depending on the context. Unlike festeggiare, which refers to more frivolous merry-making, celebrare has a more serious and somber connotation.
Oggi siamo qui riuniti per celebrare la festa dell’indipendenza.
Today we are gathered here to celebrate Independence Day.
Heather Broster is a graduate with honours in linguistics from the University of Western Ontario. She is an aspiring polyglot, proficient in English and Italian, as well as Japanese, Welsh, and French to varying degrees of fluency. Originally from Toronto, Heather has resided in various countries, notably Italy for a period of six years. Her primary focus lies in the fields of language acquisition, education, and bilingual instruction.
