Expand your Italian vocabulary!

Hi, everybody! I'm Luca and this video is aimed at those amazing people who are learning Italian as a foreign language.

If your goal is to speak fluent Italian, you have come to the right place!

In this video I'm going to talk about a number of Italian words which aren't usually taught in Italian courses.

Alright. Here with me I have this object, you have probably recognized it. What is this called? This is called "un pacchetto di fazzoletti". In italian, to refer to this object we use the phrase "pacchetto di fazzoletti".

So, if somebody asks me "Che cos'è questo?", I can answer them "È un pacchetto di fazzoletti". Alternatively, I could just say "questi sono dei fazzoletti".

So this one is called "pacchetto", inside there are several "fazzoletti". "Fazzoletti" is the plural, the singular is "fazzoletto". So this one is referred to as "un fazzoletto".

Well, I have shown you this brand's "pacchetto di fazzoletti". Now I'm not gonna repeat the brand name, because this video is not sponsored (by them).

For fair treatment, I'll show you another brand, another "pacchetto di fazzoletti". This one is blue, this one is yellow, but they are pretty much the same. These are 2 "pacchetti di fazzoletti" by different brands.

You see? Here you can read (the word) "fazzoletti", so you see that I wasn't lying.

So the first thing that I want to stress is that this one in Italian is called "fazzoletto", specifically "fazzoletto di carta" - not "salvietta".

In italian you also have the word "salvietta", but this word is used slightly differently.

If you want to get technical, you could call this one "fazzoletto di carta", but I'd say that most people simply say "fazzoletto".

Pay special attention to the spelling and the pronunciation of this word, because this word is spelled with 2 double letters. You have a double Z pronounced as /ts/ and a double T, and indeed we do say /fattsoletto/ and not /fattsoleto/. Thus, pay attention that there are two Zs and wto Ts.

Alright. In standard Italian this one is called "fazzoletto".

There are also people who call it "fazzollo". Well, this noun is clearly informal, colloquial, slang and is used by a specific type of people.

Just to be clear, those who use the word "fazzollo" are the same people who, instead of saying "Ciao, come va?", say "Bella zio!". Similarly, instead of saying "aperitivo", they say "ape". There are people that, instead of saying "Andiamo a fare l'aperitivo", say "Andiamo a fare l'ape".

Well, that's the type of people that use the word "fazzollo" in place of the word "fazzoletto".

These are the same people who, instead of saying "È tardi", say "S'è fatta una certa!". What does "S'è fatta una certa" mean? It means it got late or it's late.

I'm sure you see what type of people I'm referring to. Those that in Italian we call "tamarri" - just to be clear.

Well, if you don't know the word "tamarri", not long ago I made a video about the word "tamarri", I'll add a card to it.

That being said, "i tamarri", to look smart and witty, say "fazzollo" instead of saying "fazzoletto". Thus, instead of asking "Ce l'avresti un fazzoletto?", they ask you "Ce l'avresti un fazzollo?".

Or at least that's what happens where I live, that is, in the region where I live. In the rest of Italy - I don't know.

Anyways, I suggest that you don't say "fazzollo", I suggest that you say "fazzoletto".

Like I said, I wanted to take inspiration from this object to discuss a number of Italian words and verbs.

For instance, the first verb that comes to my mind related to "fazzoletto" is "piegare". So, if I do this, "piego il fazzoletto". If I do this, "lo apro".

There are also people who use a special technique for unfolding a tissue. The tissue is now open.

We don't usually say "chiudere il fazzoletto", we say "piegare il fazzoletto". "Lo piego e me lo metto in tasca".

What are tissues for?

Well, I'd say that tissues can be used for various purposes.

First of all, they are used "per soffiarsi il naso". In Italian we use this phrase: "soffiarsi il naso".

What does "soffiarsi il naso" mean?

It means doing this. You take the tissue and blow your nose into it.

You probably know the verb "soffiare". What does "soffiare" mean? It means blowing to push air out. For instance now I'm doing just that. Well, that's what "soffiare" means.

In Italian, the verb "soffiare" is typically used in reference to people or the wind, for example "Il vento soffia".

There is also an Italian verb that you may not know, which is related to the verb "soffiare", which is "sbuffare".

Alright. In Italian we say that somebody "sbuffa" when they blow air out in order to show that they are annoyed. When people do Pfff. Well, that is referred to with the verb "sbuffare".

By contrast, "soffiare" is a more general verb referring to blowing air out.

So, if I say that somebody "ha sbuffato", I'm making a point that this individual wanted to show that they were annoyed.

By contrast, if I mean that someone, I don't know, wants to blow up a baloon, I say that this individual "soffia nel palloncino". I don't say "sbuffa nel palloncino".

"Sbuffare" means blowing air out to express annoyance. You surely know people that do "pff", "pff" every now and then. When they see something annoying, they "sbuffano".

Anyways, keep in mind that the Italian phrase is "soffiarsi il naso". So you should use the verb "soffiarsi", that is, the reflexive form of this verb. So the phrase is "io mi soffio il naso", "tu ti soffi il naso", "lui si soffia il naso" and so on.

A mistake frequently made by non-native speakers learning Italian is this. That is, people say something like "Io soffio il mio naso". Well, these forms are wrong. We don't say "Io soffio il mio naso", we say "Mi soffio il naso".

Similarly, we don't say "Tu soffi il tuo naso", but we say "Ti soffi il naso".

This is a reflexive verb.

Alright. Like I said, the goal of this video was to start from an object and discuss a series of Italian verbs and expressions.

I hope you have found this video helpful. If you have found it helpful, please let me know that in the comments below.

Here I will add a card to another video which you might find helpful, if you want to improve your Italian vocabulary. Check it out!