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ITALIAN WORD OF THE DAY

Italian word of the day: ‘Mozzafiato’

Here's a word to take your breath away.

Published: 23 January 2024 14:46 CET
Italian word of the day mozzafiato
Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

When travelling around Italy, you’ll come across plenty of scenes that could reasonably be described as mozzafiato – that is, breathtaking.

A fiato is a breath and the verb mozzare means to cut off, so mozzafiato literally means to cut off one’s breath.

Dalla terrazza c’è una vista mozzafiato.
There’s a breathtaking view from the terrace.

Sei mozzafiato con quel vestito.
You look stunning in that dress.

As well as stunning, mozzafiato can also mean riveting, compelling or thrilling.

Il film ha avuto un finale mozzafiato.
The film had a thrilling ending.

Note that even though mozzafiato is an adjective, its ending doesn’t change to agree with the noun it’s describing.

That’s because the word fiato is still a noun, just contained inside an adjective – changing it to mozzafiata, for example, would make it meaningless.

Alternatively, you could use the formulations da mozzare il fiato or da togliere il fiato – to take one’s breath away.

Ho visto il Cirque du Soleil a Las Vegas l’anno scorso: le acrobazie sono da togliere il fiato.
I saw Cirque du Soleil in Vegas last year – the acrobatics are breathtaking.

La struttura è talmente bella da mozzare il fiato.
The building is so beautiful it would take your breath away.

Do you have an Italian word you’d like us to feature? If so, please email us with your suggestion.

Make sure you don’t miss any of our Italian words and expressions of the day: download our new app (available on Apple and Android) and then selecting the Italian Word of the Day in your Notification options via the User button.

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For members

ITALIAN WORD OF THE DAY

Italian expression of the day: ‘A patto che’

Here’s an expression that’ll come handy – as long as you know how to use it.

Published: 3 May 2024 10:25 CEST
Italian expression of the day: ‘A patto che’

Whether you’ve just started out on your journey to Italian proficiency or already have a few months, or perhaps years, of learning experience under your belt, you may already be familiar with the word patto as it can frequently be found in Italian news reports, books and films. 

A patto (hear it pronounced here) is the Italian equivalent of the English ‘pact’, meaning a formal agreement between two or more parties. 

But what do Italians mean when they drop the word between the preposition a and the conjunction che, forming the phrase a patto che?

A patto che is one of the most commonly used Italian phrases to express that a certain thing will only happen (or be allowed to happen) if one or more conditions are met. 

Its literal English translation would be ‘on condition that’, but it’s far more frequently translated as ‘as long as’, ‘provided that’, or simply ‘if’.

Ti lascio andare alla festa solo a patto che tu finisca tutti i tuoi compiti.

I’ll let you go to the party only if you finish all of your homework.

Non ho nessun problema a visitare i tuoi genitori, a patto che non restiamo la’ tutto il weekend.

I have no problem visiting your parents as long as we don’t spend the entire weekend there.

A patto che is a fairly satisfying expression to use (if only for the joy of setting down a marker and stating the things you’re not willing to compromise on) but it does come with a downside.

As you may have seen from the above examples, it’s one of those expressions that requires the use of the Italian subjunctive (or congiuntivo), which isn’t exactly the easiest tense to learn.

Sono pronto a dirti il mio segreto, a patto che tu mi dica prima [second person singular of the subjunctive form of the verb dire, or ‘tell’] il tuo.

I’m willing to tell you my secret, provided that you tell me yours first.

But if you’re still unsure about your Italian subjunctive skills, don’t worry: in most cases, you’ll be able to use se (‘if’) – and the relevant present tense form – instead of a patto che. 

Sono pronto a dirti il mio segreto se tu mi dici prima il tuo.

I’m willing to tell you my secret if you tell me yours first.

Do you have a favourite Italian word or phrase you’d like us to feature? If so, please email us with your suggestion.

Make sure you don’t miss any of our Italian words and expressions of the day: download our new app (available on Apple and Android) and then select the Italian Word of the Day in your Notification options via the User button.

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