Regrets: we've had a few.

Not upping and moving to southern Sicily before the Italian winter (finally) bites, for instance. Failing to wear a scarf and being struck down by the dreaded colpa d'aria. Declining that third helping of lasagna out of misplaced politeness.

When mistakes or misfortunes happen, as – alas! – they always will, the word you need is purtroppo.

It means 'unfortunately', 'sadly' or 'regrettably'.

Purtroppo non posso venire.
Unfortunately I can't make it.

È vero, purtroppo.
Sadly it's true.

As well as adding to your sentence, you can also use purtroppo in response to someone else's question, when you want to show you're not happy about whatever the answer is.

– Hai preso l'influenza?
– Purtroppo!
– Did you catch the flu?
– Unfortunately!

Just remember that if you're answering in the negative, you'll need to add no to make things clear.

– La Roma ha battuto la Lazio?
– Purtroppo no.
– Did Roma beat Lazio?
– Unfortunately not.

… so Roma must be struggling this season, right? We'll let the great Francesco Totti answer that one:

Do you have a favourite Italian word, phrase or expression you'd like us to feature? If so, please email our editor Jessica Phelan with your suggestion.