Days of the week in Italian – with audio

On 02/06/202302/06/2023 By fra-amici-italianIn Everyday LanguageLeave a comment

Here are the days of the week in Italian, which are easy to learn, using the authentic audio below.

The Italian week starts on a Monday, lunedì.

Monday	1	lunedì
Tuesday	2	martedì
Wednesday	3	mercoledì
Thursday	4	giovedì
Friday	5	venerdì
Saturday	6	sabato
Sunday	7	domenica

In the days from lunedì to venerdì, the last syllable “dì” is stressed.

The word dì is a word meaning “day” (from the Latin dies). It is a less common synonym of the word giorno, the usual word we use for day: un giorno – a day / one day; due giorni – two days.

The days of the week do not have a capital letter unless they are the first word in a sentence.

Here you can listen to all seven days. You can repeat the days after the audio, which starts with the titles “Days of the week” – “I giorni della settimana.”

Now you can say the days along with the audio.

Here you can compare the days of the week in English and Italian.

Today, tonight, tomorrow and yesterday

Here are four other useful expressions we use frequently.

today	oggi
tonight / this evening	stasera
tomorrow	domani
yesterday	ieri

Now you can listen to and compare these expressions in English and Italian.

The origins of the days of the week in Italian – some fun facts

If you have a closer look at the days in Italian, you will notice that the names from Monday to Friday are similar to those of the moon and the planets, which were based on the names of Roman gods. Saturday and Sunday have religious significance in the Judeo-Christian tradition, but before the spread of Christianity in the west, the Latin names were based on the names of Roman gods – Saturn and the sun.

Monday	1	lunedì	la luna – the moon – think of lunar landscape and the lunar module in the 1969 landing on the moon Luna was an ancient Roman goddess of the moon. il giorno della Luna – the day of the Moon – in Latin: dies Lunae
Tuesday	2	martedì	Marte – Mars – god of war – the planet has an orange tinge, because of the iron oxide (rust), and so it represented blood il giorno di Marte – the day of Mars – in Latin: dies Martis
Wednesday	3	mercoledì	Mercurio – Mercury – the god of speed, eloquence and travel, and commerce, and the messenger of the gods il giorno di Mercurio – the day of Mercury – in Latin: dies Mercurii
Thursday	4	giovedì	Giove – Jove * – the Roman god of the sky, light, thunder and lightning – the greatest of the Roman gods – also patron of the Roman state il giorno di Giove – the day of Jove – in Latin: dies Iovis
Friday	5	venerdì	Venere – Venus – goddess of love and beauty il giorno di Venere – the day of Venus – in Latin: dies Veneris
Saturday	6	sabato	the Jewish sabbath (after the Jewish term “shabbat”) – il giorno di riposo – the day of rest – in Latin: sabbatum Before the spread of Christianity in the west, sabato was known as: il giorno di Saturno – the day of Saturn – Roman god of agriculture and of fun and feasting – in Latin: dies Saturni
Sunday	7	domenica	the Christian day of the Lord – il giorno del Signore – in Latin: Dominica / dies Domini Before the spread of Christianity in the west, domenica was known as: il giorno del Sole – the day of the Sun (which was then thought to be a planet) – Sol was an ancient Roman god of the sun – in Latin: dies Solis

* By Jove: Do you remember the play Pygmalion by George Bernard Shaw (upon which My Fair Lady was based)? Professor Henry Higgins is teaching Eliza Doolittle to speak proper English instead of cockney. Eventually, he exclaims: “By Jove, I think she’s got it!”

These fun facts about the Roman origins of the days may help you to remember the days of the week in Italian!

You can learn numbers in Italian with these posts:

Numbers 1-10 in Italian – with audio

Numbers 1-20 in Italian – with audio

How to count to 100 and 1 000 in Italian – with audio

You may enjoy this informative article by Margaret Clunies Ross

Emeritus Professor of English Language and Early English Literature, University of Sydney

https://theconversation.com/explainer-the-gods-behind-the-days-of-the-week-87170

Numbers 1-20 in Italian – with audio

On 01/06/202302/06/2023 By fra-amici-italianIn Everyday LanguageLeave a comment

In this post we learn to count from 1 to 20 in Italian – with authentic audio.

1		uno
2		due
3		tre
4		quattro
5		cinque
6		sei
7		sette
8		otto
9		nove
10		dieci
11		undici *
12		dodici
13		tredici
14		quattordici
15		quindici
16		sedici
17		diciassette
18		diciotto
19		diciannove
20		venti

Which syllable do we stress in Italian words?

Please note that in Italian, we usually stress the second-last syllable of a word: uno (uno), due (due), quattro (quattro). (Of course, tre is a one-syllable word.)

* When we stress the third-last syllable, that vowel sound has been underlined to show you that the word stress is different: undici, dodici, tredici, quattordici, quindici, sedici. (This underlining to show word stress is a help for learners, but it is not part of normal Italian spelling.)

Here you can listen to all 20 numbers in Italian. You can repeat the numbers after the audio.

Here you can compare English and Italian numbers from 1 to 20. (The English prompts help you to quickly think of the corresponding numbers in Italian.)

Interesting patterns in numbers 1-20 in English and Italian

It’s interesting to see how numbers are formed in both languages.

English numbers between 13 and 19

Let’s start by looking at what we do in English. We use “teen”, based on the word “ten” (10), at the end of numbers 13 thirteen to 19 nineteen.

Before “teen”, we have the base numbers 4 and 6-9: 14 fourteen, 16 sixteen, 17 seventeen, 18 eighteen, 19 nineteen.

For numbers 13 thirteen and 15 fifteen, before “teen,” we use “thir” instead of “three,” and “fif” instead of “five.”

Italian numbers between 11 and 16

Similarly, in Italian we use a form of the base number plus “dici” (a shortened form of the word “dieci” 10) at the end of 11 undici to 16 sedici:

11 undici (un from uno)

12 dodici (do based on due)

13 tredici (tre, same as base number tre)

14 quattordici (based on quattro, but note that it’s quattor)

15 quindici (based on the second part of cinque)

16 sedici (based on the first part of sei).

Italian numbers from 17 to 19

We then use “dicia” or the shortened “dici” (based on the word “dieci” 10), as the first part of the numbers 17 diciassette, 18 diciotto, 19 diciannove, followed by the base numbers sette, otto and nove:

17 diciassette

18 diciotto (Since otto starts with a vowel, we drop the “a” in “dicia” in front of otto.)

19 diciannove.

(These forms probably developed over time because it’s easier to say 17-19 with the “dicia” or “dici” in front, than if the “dici’ were at the end!)

Next you can learn to count to 40, then 100 and 1 000 in Italian by going to the next post:

How to count to 100 and 1 000 in Italian – with audio

If you wish to focus on 1-10, you can go to this post:

Numbers 1-10 in Italian – with audio