How do you say small in Italian?
Piccolo
Use piccolo to say small in Italian.
| Origin | From the root *pik-, meaning “small thing” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈpikkolo/ |
Piccolo
Small
Small in Italian: Different forms
Like all other adjectives in Italian, piccolo needs to match the gender (masculine or feminine) and the number (singular or plural) of the noun.
| Singular | Plural | |
| Masculine | Piccolo | Piccoli |
| Feminine | Piccola | Piccole |
Small in Italian: Examples
Rispetto alla tua, la mia auto è piccola.
Compared to yours, my car is small.
Davanti a casa mia c’è un piccolo giardino.
There is a small garden in front of my house.
Il nostro mondo è solo una piccola parte dell’universo.
Our world is just a small part of the universe.
Avete delle taglie più piccole?
Do you have any smaller sizes?
Small in Italian: Related words
Piccolo is not the only translation for small. You can also use stretto.
Stretto
Small, tight, narrow
You use stretto to talk about clothes that don’t fit (but use piccolo for asking for smaller sizes!)
Le mie scarpe sono troppo strette. Me ne servono di nuove.
My shoes are too small. I need new ones.
Mi serve una taglia più piccola di questo maglione.
I need a smaller size of this sweater.
Small in Italian: Expressions
There are a number of idiomatic expressions featuring the word for small in Italian. Among these are:
- il pesce grande mangia il pesce piccolo (big fish eat little fish)
- com’è piccolo il mondo! (how small is the world!)
- fare le ore piccole (to stay up late)
- farsi piccolo piccolo (to make oneself as small as possible)
For example, you can say…
Ho fatto le ore piccole stanotte.
I was up late last night.
Francesco? Cosa ci fai qui? Com’è piccolo il mondo!
Francesco? What are you doing here? How small is the world!
More free Italian resources
You might want to keep learning Italian online with these free Italian resources:
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