Zucchero

Italian word of the day

Pronunciation
English translation	Sugar
Origin	From the Arabic word sukkar, “sugar”

Different forms of zucchero

Like most nouns in Italian, zucchero has two articles (definite or indefinite articles) and two numbers (singular or plural).

Its plural form in Italian, gli zuccheri, is used to talk about the amount of sugar in a substance or in our bodies. The singular partitive article is dello.

Examples

Non c’è zucchero nella ciotola.	There is no sugar in the bowl.
Per preparare questa torta abbiamo bisogno di farina, zucchero e uova.	We need flour, sugar and eggs to make this cake.
Se il caffè è troppo forte, aggiungi dello zucchero.	If your coffee is too strong, add some sugar.
Vuoi zucchero e latte?	Would you like sugar and milk?

Expressions

There are various kinds of sugar in Italian. The most common are:

• zucchero di canna (brown sugar)
• zucchero bianco or raffinato (white or refined sugar)
• zucchero semolato (granulated sugar)
• zucchero a velo (powdered sugar)
• zucchero filato (cotton candy)

Zucchero di canna	Brown sugar (“Cane sugar”)
Zucchero semolato	Granulated sugar
Zucchero bianco, zucchero raffinato	White sugar, refined sugar
Zucchero a velo	Powdered sugar (“Veiled sugar”)
Zucchero filato	Powdered sugar (“Spun sugar”)

For example, you can say…

Come conservare lo zucchero di canna per evitare che indurisca?	How can brown sugar be stored to prevent it from hardening?
I pancake vengono serviti con zucchero a velo e burro.	Pancakes are served with powdered sugar and butter.
Le nuvole sembrano zucchero filato.	The clouds look like cotton candy.

Adding sugar in Italian

Addolcire, to sweeten, is the most common verb used to mean “to add sugar to something, to make something sweeter”. It comes from dolce, which means sweet.

Addolcire	To sweeten
Dolce	Sweet

For example, you can say…

Addolcisco il caffè con la melassa invece che con lo zucchero.	I sweeten my coffee with molasses instead of sugar.
Questo caffè è troppo dolce!	This coffee is too sweet!

You can also use zuccherare, which obviously comes from zucchero. It’s less common than addolcire.

Zuccherare

To sweeten

For example, you can say…

Tom zuccherò il suo tè con il miele.

Tom sweetened his tea with honey.

When it comes to cakes and powdered sugar, you have to use the expression cospargere di zucchero, which means to sprinkle with sugar.

Togliere la torta dal forno e cospargerla di zucchero a velo.

Take the cake out of the oven and sprinkle it with powdered sugar.

When you heat it up, sugar changes color. This kind of sugar is called zucchero caramellato and it comes from the verb caramellare, to caramelize.

Zucchero caramellato

Caramelised sugar

For example, you can say…

Fai caramellare lo zucchero in un pentolino per qualche minuto.

Caramelize the sugar in a pan for a few minutes.

When a person is very gentle and as sweet as honey, you can say dolce come il miele (as sweet as honey) or dolce come lo zucchero (as sweet as sugar) in Italian.

Dolce come lo zucchero

As sweet as sugar

Essere zucchero e miele is another Italian idiom with a very similar meaning. It literally translates to “to be sugar and honey”, so it’s used to describe a very affectionate and sweet type of person.

Essere zucchero e miele

To be as sweet as sugar

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