All posts by Jessica Maggi
How to Order Coffee in Italy like a Real Italian
If coffee has a spiritual home, this is Italy, viewed by many as the world capital of coffee. Wherever you turn, you see a café serving espresso, cappuccino or caffè macchiato. The café is the heart and soul of Italian daily life. It’s a slice of true Italian culture as genuine as a British pub.There […]
Continue readingHow to Talk About the Past in Italian: A Guide to the Passato Remoto
When you are first learning a foreign language that has different past tenses like Italian, it can be easy to get them all mixed up. In this lesson, we will show you how to use the Italian remote past tense (passato remoto), which refers to events far in the past. You will mostly come across […]
Continue readingHow to Talk About the Future in Italian: A Guide to the Futuro Semplice
In Italian, the simple future tense (futuro semplice) refers to actions which have yet to happen. Fortunately, it is much simpler than the present and the past, and both its use and conjugations are pretty straightforward. In this lesson we will show you how to conjugate and use the futuro semplice. It is not a hard […]
Continue reading15 Absolutely Must-try Italian Dishes Besides Pizza and Pasta
Synonymous with good food, sun-kissed Italy is a sweet spot that deserves to be on every foodie’s bucket list.While you should definitely indulge in classic Italian dishes like pasta and Neapolitan pizza during your stay in the Belpaese, it would be an absolute crime to limit yourself to them. Broaden your horizons, and sample some Italian […]
Continue readingThe Italian Conditional Mood: a Guide to the Condizionale Presente
One of the four finite moods in Italian, the conditional refers to hypothetical events. The Italian present conditional tense (condizionale presente) expresses what would happen under certain conditions, and roughly corresponds to “would” in English. Would you like to master the condizionale presente and express yourself in a more fluid and flexible way? Here is your guide. Let’s […]
Continue readingHow do Italians celebrate Christmas and New Year?
The Christmas holiday season is a special time to take some rest and spend quality time with friends and family. Christmas in Italy is just magical. As far as I remember, I’ve always loved the beginning of December, when the holiday vibration is perceived, with all its decorations, lights and carousels. The Christmas season is much anticipated as […]
Continue readingHow to Talk About the Future in Italian: A Guide to the Futuro Anteriore
Although English has a future perfect tense, it is rarely used. For this reason, most English speakers who decide to learn Italian are a little intimidated by the Italian future perfect tense (futuro anteriore). It is nothing to fear, though, and its rules are pretty straightforward. In this lesson, we will show you how to form, use […]
Continue readingHow to Talk About the Past in Italian: A Guide to the Trapassato Prossimo
The Italian past perfect (trapassato prossimo) may sound incredibly scary at first – but there’s good news. We use it in a similar way to when you would use the past perfect in English.In this lesson, we will show you how to use the trapassato prossimo in Italian. Once you get the hang of it, […]
Continue readingHow to Talk About the Past in Italian Using the Imperfetto
Most Italian learners are a little intimidated by the imperfetto, one of the main past tenses in Italian. The imperfect tense (imperfetto) refers to both distant and recent past occurrences that happened on a regular basis.In this lesson, we will show you how to use the imperfetto tense and will give you some tips to […]
Continue readingHow to Talk About the Past in Italian: A Guide to the Passato Prossimo
Passato prossimo, imperfetto, passato remoto… Unlike in English, there are many different past tenses in Italian and the difference between them can be tricky. The passato prossimo is the main tense used in Italian to describe an action which has been completed in the near past. In this lesson, we will show you how to use […]
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