Instantly Italy’s Advent Calendar is almost over and it’s been a blast!
I started the tradition of the Advent Calendar last year with a series of videos about the Italian traditions for Christmas: it was so much fun that I simply had to do it again. The topic I chose for this year is Italian verbs that could be used during the Christmas season.
If you have no clue of what I am talking about, let me just tell you that Instantly Italy’s Advent Calendar is a series of 24 videos that you can receive via email every day from December 1st to the 24th. It is something I do for my newsletter subscribers, who can opt-in to receive the videos if they like.
It’s the second to last day of the Advent Calendar today and since I won’t spoil too much to the subscribers anymore, I have decided to write all the verbs down in a blog post, so that you can have them all if needed.
The idea of an Advent Calendar about Italian verbs came from the fact that my big project on Instagram this year is about verbs, so I thought that it would make sense to focus my Advent Calendar on the same topic. But when I started making a list of verbs, I sort of panicked.
Most of the verbs I came up with were unique and interesting but some others seemed really ordinary, verbs that people might have already heard a thousand times. But then I thought that repetition is key when learning languages and so it might still be useful to review a verb you already know.
This is just to tell you that the list that I am sharing today contains Italian verbs I bet you are already familiar with but I hope you won’t mind! So here is my list of 24 Italian verbs that might be useful at this time of the year, in alphabetical order.
As I normally do with these types of posts, I have created a downloadable pdf file that you can keep for future reference. As usual, you can find the file in Your Italian Toolbox, the private page on my site where I upload all language-learning material (you can access the page if you are subscribed to my newsletter).
Here are 24 Italian verbs to be used at Christmas time:
Abbracciare: to hug. “Sono andata alla festa di Natale e ho abbracciato tutti i miei amici” (I went to the Christmas party and I hugged all my friends).
Accendere: to turn on, to switch on, to light. “Appena arrivo a casa, accendo le luci di Natale e metto su la mia playlist di Natale preferita” (As soon as I get home, I turn the Christmas lights on and I play my favorite Christmas playlist)
Addobbare: to decorate, to deck out, especially for Christmas. “Dobbiamo addobbare tutta la sala per la festa di Natale” (We have to deck the hall for the Christmas party).
Apparecchiare: to set the table. “Mia mamma vuole che apparecchi la tavola per il pranzo di Natale, ma io non ne ho voglia” (My mom wants me to set the table for Christmas lunch but I don’t want to).
Aspettare: to wait. “La cosa più bella del mio Natale di bambina era aspettare l’arrivo di Babbo Natale” (When I was little, the best thing of Christmas was waiting for Santa).
Augurare: to wish. “Ti auguro di passare un Natale sereno con tutta la tua famiglia” (I wish you a happy Christmas with your family).
Brindare: to toast, to make a toast, to drink to something. “È la sera di San Silvestro: finalmente è arrivato il momento di brindare con gli amici!” (It’s New Year’s Eve, it’s finally time to make a toast with friends).
Cantare: to sing. “Sono andata in chiesa per sentire il coro cantare le canzoni di Natale” (I went to the church to listen to the choir singing Christmas carols).
Celebrare: to celebrate. “La mia famiglia celebra sempre il Natale con un pranzo pieno di cose buone” (My family celebrates Christmas with a lunch full of good food).
Comprare: to buy. “È la vigilia di Natale e devo ancora comprare tutti i regali di Natale!” (It’s Christmas’ Eve and I still have to buy all the presents!).
Cucinare: to cook. “Quest’anno la mia famiglia passerà Natale da me e dovrò cucinare per dieci persone” (My family will spend Christmas at my place and I’ll have to cook for 10 people).
Decorare: to decorate. “Mi piace come hai decorato la tavola per il pranzo di Natale” (I love how you decorated the table for Christmas dinner).
Donare: to give, to gift. A synonym is regalare. “Per Natale ho donato ai miei amici dei dolci fatti in casa” (I gave my friends for Christmas some homemade sweets).
Festeggiare: to celebrate, to party. “Come festeggerete Capodanno quest’anno?” (How will you celebrate New Year’s Eve this year?).
Illuminare: to light. “Che bello! Le luminarie illuminano tutte le strade del paese” (How lovely! The Christmas lights light up all the streets in the village).
Impacchettare: to pack, to wrap. “Ho passato il pomeriggio a impacchettare i regali di Natale” (I have spent the afternoon wrapping Christmas presents).
Infornare: to put in the oven. “Ho infornato i dolci per il pranzo di Natale e adesso devo preparare gli antipasti” (I have put the sweets for Christmas lunch in the oven and now I have to prepare the starters).
Infiocchettare: to put a ribbon on a package. “Ho infiocchettato questo pacchetto con del nastro rosso, mi piace moltissimo!” (I have put a red ribbon on this package and I love it!).
Invitare: to invite, to ask. “Quest’anno ho invitato i miei suoceri a passare il Natale con noi” (I have asked my parents-in-law to spend Christmas with us).
Pregare: to pray. “Natale è un momento importante per i cattolici, durante il quale si prega molto” (Christmas is a very important moment for catholics, when you pray a lot).
Recitare: to act, to play. “Mio figlio è molto agitato perché deve recitare nello spettacolo di Natale” (My son is really nervous because he has to act in the Christmas play).
Scambiarsi: to exchange. “Oggi vado a trovare la mia amica e ci scambieremo i regali di Natale” (I’ll go to my friend’s house today and we’ll exchange Christmas presents).
Spacchettare: to unwrap, to open presents. “È molto divertente spacchettare i regali la mattina di Natale” (It’s really fun to open presents on Christmas morning).
Spedire: to send. A synonym is mandare. “Devo andare in posta a spedire i biglietti d’auguri per Natale” (I have to go to the post office to send my Christmas cards).
By the way, what is the verb you use the most at this time of the year?
If you are looking for interesting ways to practice your Italian daily, I’d suggest you check my program called Giorno dopo giorno, a daily Italian practice.
If you sign up to Giorno dopo giorno, you will receive an email every other day for 365 days. Each email will contain a prompt, a little exercise, something to watch, read, listen or something that will gently force you to practice your Italian every day, making it part of your daily routine.
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