Italian word of the day
| Pronunciation | |
| English translation | River |
| Origin | From the Latin word fluĕre, “to flow” |
Different forms of fiume
Like most nouns in Italian, fiume has two articles (definite or indefinite articles) and two numbers (singular or plural).
Un fiume
A river
Dei fiumi
Some rivers
Il fiume
The river
I fiumi
The rivers
Examples
| Qual è il fiume più lungo del mondo? | What is the longest river in the world? |
| Il Nilo è lungo più di 6.000 chilometri. | The Nile is more than 6,000 kilometers long. |
| La foce del fiume si estende per 2.000 chilometri quadrati. | The mouth of the river extends over 2,000 square kilometers. |
| Domenica siamo andati a pescare al fiume. | On Sunday we went fishing on the river. |
Related words
Depending on its size, a river is not always translate as fiume.
Torrente and ruscello translate as “creek” or “stream” and are used to describe small rivers. Both are masculine words.
| Il torrente | The creek, the stream | |
| Il ruscello | The creek, the stream |
The difference between the two is that a torrente depends on the seasonal rains. It is very steep and it can dry up completely during the summer months. A ruscello, on the other hand, is a small river with calm waters.
There are two types of river estuaries in Italian:
- foce a delta (delta mouth)
- foce a estuario (mouth of the estuary)
| Foce a delta | Delta mouth | |
| Foce a estuario | Mouth of the estuary |
You have a foce a delta when the mouth has a triangular shape, with several small streams dividing the main flow of water. The Po river, the longest river in Italy, has a delta. You have a foce a estuario when the river flows directly into the sea.
Expressions
There are a number of popular idiomatic expressions featuring the word for river in Italian. Among them are:
- versare un fiume di lacrime (to shed a river of tears)
- scorrere a fiumi (to flow freely)
- un fiume / una fiumana di gente (a flood of people)
For example, you can say…
| La birra scorreva a fiumi alla festa. | The beer flowed freely at the party. |
| Quando il semaforo diventa verde, un fiume di gente attraversa la strada. | When the traffic light turns green, a flood of people crosses the street. |
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