Learn Italian vocabulary to describe everyday objects

Hi, everybody! I am Luca and this video is aimed at those wonderful people who want to learn Italian well.

I am referring to those people studying or learning the Italian language who would like to speak Italian like a native.

If you are one of these wonderful people, you are in the right place!

(Channel Intro)

Here I have a mug, not because I'm thirsty, but because I would like to review a number of phrases. In other words, this mug is just a pretext, an excuse, to discuss some Italian idioms, phrases and words. In other words, I want to review the words that we can use to talk about a mug.

First of all, the first question, the most obvious question: "Che cos'è una tazza?"

And the second question would be: "A cosa serve una tazza?", "A cosa servono le tazze?".

This question, "a cosa serve?" or "a cosa servono?", is one of the most useful questions you could ever learn. It is used when you want to know the purpose of a given object, or in general of something.

If I point to an object and ask: "A cosa serve?", I want to know what that object is for.

Interestingly, for some strange reasons, to the question "a cosa serve?", people tend to answer "serve per". That is, they don't answer "serve a", but "serve per". For example: "Le tazze servono per bere".

So this is rather peculiar. While the question is "a cosa serve?", people typically answer "serve per" or "servono per".

So we can say that mugs are objects "che servono per bere". "Le tazze sono oggetti che vengono usati per bere".

Mugs belong to a category which in Italian is called "stoviglie (le stoviglie)".

I don't know if you know the noun "lavastoviglie". What does "lavastoviglie" mean? It is that household appliance where you put plates, mugs, glasses, spoons, tea spoons, forks, etc., to wash them. That object, that appliance, in Italian is called "lavastoviglie".

"Stoviglie" is the name of the category including plates, glasses, cups, that is, all objects used for eating. "Stoviglie" is clearly a technical term and we normally don't use it.

For example, in Italian we say "lavare i piatti". When someone says "lavare i piatti", they mean all crockery. You will never hear people saying: "Stasera ho un sacco di stoviglie da lavare". People typically say "lavare i piatti", which includes glasses, forks, spoons, tea spoons, cups, etc.

You probably know the difference between the words "tazza" and "bicchiere". This is one is called "tazza", this one is called "bicchiere".

What's the difference?

The difference is that "la tazza" has this part here, which is called "manico". This one is called "il manico della tazza". Please pay attention: "manico" is a masculine noun, il manico, i manici. Don't mix it up with the grammatically feminine noun "la manica", "le maniche".

What does "la manica" mean?

This one. This is called "manica della camicia". This type of shirts in Italian are called "a mezze maniche", that is "camicie a mezze maniche". I'm wearing "una camicia a mezze maniche".

Why?

Because the sleeve ends here, halfway through. The sleeve of a standard shirt ends here. "Le camicie a mezze maniche" have just half sleeve.

And be careful: the phrase is "camicie a mezze maniche" not "camicie con le mezze maniche".

If I hold the mug like so, I should say "la sto tenendo per il manico". What am I doing? "Sto tenendo una tazza per il manico".

Similarly, if I grab it by doing this movement, I should say "la prendo per il manico".

If I do this, what verb should I use?

I should use the verb "capovolgere". What have I done? "Ho capovolto la tazza". In theory, you could also say "rovesciare", but honestly I for one prefer the verb "capovolgere", because it precisely means capsizing, overturning (turning bottom up).

If I do this, what verb should I use to describe what I'm doing?

For example, I could say "sto dando dei colpetti alla tazza". "Sto dando dei colpetti alla tazza". Or: "Sto dando dei colpetti con il dito". What does "un colpetto" mean? It means a little tap.

You surely know the verb "bere". In theory, we could also use the verb "sorseggiare".

What's the difference between the verbs "bere" and "sorseggiare"? "Sorseggiare" means drinking in small sips, that is, doing this. This is "sorseggiare". If we use the verb "sorseggiare", we mean that we want to stress this. That is, the person is drinking in small sips. They are drinking slowly.

"Bere" could also indicate this. "Bere" could also mean this.

If someone is drinking quickly, for instance, if they drink like this... We can use the verb "trangugiare".

Back in the day, the verb "tazzare" was also used. I don't know if it's still used. The verb "tazzare" essentially meant drinking and getting drunk. That is, "tazzare" used to mean, back in the day, drinking much. Drinking much alcohol.

What material are mugs typically made of?

They are usually made either of "ceramica" - this one is made of "ceramica" I guess - or "porcellana".

"La porcellana" is a material similar to ceramic, except that it is "più pregiato". What does "più pregiato" mean? That it is of superior quality, and hence it probably costs more.

In theory, mugs could also be made out of glass. But they are typically made out of ceramic or porcelain.

How could I describe this object?

I could say "è una tazza". That's easy. Next, I could say "è una tazza di ceramica", "è una tazza bianca", because it looks white to me. Next, since it's not that big, I could say "è una tazza media". Or "è una tazza di medie dimensioni".

But the most difficult thing to describe is undoubtedly this part here.

How can I describe this part here?

Well, I could say: "Su questa tazza sono disegnati dei fiori". Or I could also say: "È una tazza a fiori". What does it mean? It has flower drawings.

In particular, I could say: "Sulla tazza ci sono dei fiori rossi e blu". Or: "una tazza bianca con sopra dei fiori rossi e blu".

This one, by contrast, is called "tazzina". Why is it called "tazzina"? Because it is smaller than a "tazza". So the noun "tazza" refer to this one, while this one is called "tazzina".

In theory, we could specify "tazzina da caffè". But in general I would say that if I say "tazzina", everybody will understand that I mean "tazzina da caffè". So I could as easily omit the part "da caffè".

Not long ago I made a video about the preposition DA pointing to a function. Or in general the preposition DA used to point to the suitability for a given purpose. I'll add a card to that video in the top corner. If want to, check it out! So that you will learn several words with a pattern similar to "tazzina da caffè".

So how could I describe this coffee cup?

Well, I could say "è una tazzina azzurra".

I could say "è una tazzina azzurra con l'interno rosa". The inside is pink. See that?

I could say "è una tazzina di ceramica".

The most difficult thing to describe is this. What is this? It's a face. So I could say: "è una tazzina azzurra con sopra una faccia sorridente".

The nose is raised, see that? So I could say "il naso è in rilievo". What does it mean? The nose stands out slightly. "Sporge" here means that the nose is raised and stands out slightly from the surface. See? This is the coffee cup surface, the nose stands out, it is raised.

Well, that is it!

I hope that you liked this video and that you learnt new words.