The unwritten rules of formal and informal Italian In English, one little word does all the work: “you”. You say it to your best friend, to your boss and to the King… In Italian, every new conversation starts with a choice: tu or Lei? And that choice says a lot about how you see the … Leggi tutto
It usually happens at a random moment. You’re waiting for a train, you open an Italian website on your phone, and you start reading. You know the words. Almost all of them. No strange verbs, nothing you would need to look up. And still you have no idea what the sentence is saying. You read … Leggi tutto
Some Italian idioms can leave you completely lost the first time you hear them. You know every single word, the grammar is simple, and still the sentence makes no sense at all. Imagine you’re about to take an exam in Italy. An Italian friend smiles and says: “In bocca al lupo!” Your brain does what … Leggi tutto
If you have ever tried to say something as simple as “I live in Rome”, you have probably paused for a second: is it abito a Roma or vivo a Roma? Both abitare and vivere translate into English as “to live”, and that is exactly why they trip up so many learners. The good news … Leggi tutto
Ora, tempo and volta explained In this guide, we will explain how to say time in Italian and when to use ora, tempo and volta correctly. One of the first things students notice when they start learning Italian is that some very simple English words have multiple translations. “Time” is a perfect example. In Italian, … Leggi tutto
The Words That Will Trick You Every Time You have been studying Italian for a while. You know your verbs, you have memorised a good chunk of vocabulary, and you feel reasonably confident walking into a conversation. Then you say something that makes your Italian friend burst out laughing, or go completely silent with a … Leggi tutto
How to use potere, volere, dovere and sapere with confidence At some point in your Italian studies, you will need to express things like “I have to work”, “I can come” or “I want to go”. These are some of the most common structures in everyday Italian conversation, and they all pass through the same … Leggi tutto
Why they matter more than you think If you’ve ever said “capello” when you meant “cappello”, you’ve already experienced the power of Italian double consonants — and you probably didn’t even know it. The truth is, Italian pronunciation isn’t just about getting the sounds right. It’s about understanding three features that work together to give … Leggi tutto
The Simplest Explanation You’ll Ever Find If you’ve been studying Italian for a while, you’ve definitely noticed these two tiny words popping up everywhere — and probably thought: “What on earth does that mean?” Don’t worry. Ci and ne confuse almost every English speaker learning Italian, and for good reason: they don’t have a direct … Leggi tutto
When to use each tense in Italian Understanding passato prossimo vs imperfetto is one of the biggest challenges for English speakers studying Italian. While both tenses refer to the past, they are not interchangeable: choosing the wrong one can completely change the meaning of a sentence. This article explains the difference between passato prossimo and … Leggi tutto