In this lesson you’ll learn the most common and interesting idioms with letters in Italian.
Let’s start!
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Table of Contents
Idioms with letters in Italian
The first we’re going to see translates to to dot your i’s.
Mettere i puntini sulle i
This is used to address a nitpicky kind of person.
Mettere i puntini sulle i
To dot your i’s
Literally: to put the small dots on the i’s
Il mio commercialista è molto preciso. Gli piace mettere i puntini sulle i.
My accountant is very precise. He likes dotting his i’s.
To dot your i’s
Non capire un’acca
Latin used to aspirate h‘s, and so does Italian nowadays. In modern Italian, hai and ai are pronounced exactly the same. You can’t really hear the h sound.
This gave way to the idiom non capire un’acca, meaning “to not understand anything”.
Non capire un’acca
To not understand anything
Literally: to not understand an h
Puoi parlare più forte? Non capisco un’acca!
Can you speak louder? I can’t understand anything!
Non valere un’acca
Likewise, non valere un’acca was born. Since h’s don’t really serve a purpose in Italian, non valere un’acca means “to be worth nothing”.
Non valere un’acca
To be worth nothing
Literally: to not be worth an h
Non vale un’acca come cuoco. Brucia sempre tutto.
He’s worth nothing as a cook. He always burns everything.
To be worth nothing
Dalla a alla zeta
This will hopefully be straightforward, as there’s direct correspondence with its translation to English: from A to Z. From beginning to end.
Dalla a alla zeta
From A to Z
Questo negozio vende un po’ di tutto, dalla a alla zeta.
This shop sells a bit of everything, from A to Z.
Imparare l’ABC
Contrary to what it may seem, this idiom does not refer to the Italian alphabet. Imparare l’ABC means “to learn the basic theory of a subject”.
Imparare l’ABC
To acquire the basics
Literally: to learn the ABC
A scuola dovrebbero insegnare l’ABC dell’economia.
Schools should teach basic concepts of economy.
To acquire the basics
What next?
Click here to go to the idioms with letters in Italian interactive exercises!
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