When you speak Italian, formality is more than just a grammatical nuance – it’s a cultural code that reflects our relationships and social contexts. The Coffee Break Italian Show is a podcast series of bite-sized, friendly conversations in which we demystify tricky Italian language topics. In the latest episode, Mark and Francesca delve into the

Italian is renowned for its smooth and lyrical sounds. One of the intriguing aspects of Italian pronunciation lies in its double consonants – or le doppie. In Italian, all consonants can be doubled (apart from the letter H). Even the double Q exists – soqquadro (“disarray”). The Coffee Break Italian Show is a podcast series

Going to a café can be a great opportunity to sit down and listen to one of our Coffee Break Italian podcasts with a nice cup of coffee or tea. In this article we’re talking about prepositions, so do you know which preposition you’d use in Italian to talk about going to a café or being

Did you know that the English verb “can” can be translated into Italian in three different ways? Each of the three verbs brings its own twist to the concept of “can” – creating a painter’s palette of nuanced expressions! The Coffee Break Italian Show is a podcast series of bite-sized, friendly conversations in which we demystify

The verb avere was probably one of the first verbs you came across in Italian. Of course, its basic meaning is “to have”, but there are many useful everyday expressions that use avere in which the verb doesn’t translate as “to have”. The Coffee Break Italian Show is a podcast series of bite-sized, friendly conversations in which we demystify

There are many expressions in Italian that are used very often, but which you may have to think twice about before translating directly from English. If you want to say that you’re hungry, for example, it may take a while before it feels natural not to use the verb essere (“to be”). In this article

How do we translate “the” into Italian? There are, in fact, seven options, and it depends on the grammatical gender (masculine or feminine) and the number (singular or plural) of the noun. The Coffee Break Italian Show is a podcast series of bite-sized, friendly conversations in which we demystify tricky Italian language topics. In the

Have you ever found yourself tongue-tied when trying to pronounce the Italian sound gli? You’re not alone! Gli is considered one of the trickiest sounds to master in Italian, mainly because it’s not commonly found in many other languages. But there’s no need to worry, as there are some techniques that you can learn to help

“I’m sorry!” – a very common phrase in any conversation, but what is the best way to say sorry in Italian? There are many ways to say sorry, excuse yourself and ask for permission in Italian, and the one to choose will depend on the context. Not only is it useful to know what they

Is there an easy way to know the gender of a noun in Italian? You probably already know from your experience with Italian that it is a language that has grammatical gender. Every noun in Italian is either masculine or feminine. Over time, you get to know what gender nouns are, the more you practise