Food 2
Arancia vs. arancio
In Italian, most fruit names are feminine and end in ‑a. Some examples are mela for apple and arancia for orange.
Tree names, however, are usually masculine and end in ‑o. So, an apple tree is called melo and an orange tree is arancio.
| fruit | tree |
| la mela | il melo |
| l'arancia | l'arancio |
Ho fame!
The short words ho and ha are two forms of the verb to have in Italian. Like in English, to have can describe a person’s belongings.
Io ho una fragola.
I have a strawberry.
La donna ha l’ingrediente.
The woman has the ingredient.
In some fixed expressions, io ho is used where we would say I am in English. For example, you can use ho fame to say I'm hungry.
Io ho fame.
I am hungry.
La ragazza ha fame.
The girl is hungry.
It's just one panino
Did you know that in Italian panino just means sandwich? So not all panini in Italy are necessarily grilled sandwiches! Plus, panini is a plural form, so it actually refers to more than one sandwich!
Lui mangia un panino.
He eats a sandwich.
Fun fact: burgers and rolls are called panini in Italian as well.