How do you say LITTLE BEAR in Italian?

How exactly do you say little bear in Italian?

In this lesson, we will take a look at the different words you can use to talk about little bears in Italian and you will even learn some expressions featuring the word for bear. Read on to learn them all!

Orsacchiotto, orsetto
Little bear

Let’s get started! Iniziamo!


How do you say little bear in Italian?

Orsacchiotto

Orsacchiotto is the most common way to translate little bear in Italian.

Orsacchiotto
Little bear

smiling little bear

Little bear in Italian can be literally translated as piccolo orso, but we don’t really use this expression.

It is a masculine noun, so it uses the articles il (definite, the little bear), and un (indefinite, a little bear).

Un orsacchiotto
A little bear

Degli orsacchiotti
Some little bears

L’orsacchiotto
The little bear

Gli orsacchiotti
The little bears

It’s worth noting that orsacchiotto in Italian has two different translations in English. It can mean:

  • bear cub
  • teddy bear (especially in the expression orsacchiotto di peluche or di pezza)

Title: Italian All-in-One For Dummies
Language: English / Italian
Publisher: For Dummies
Pages: 672

Learn to speak Italian like a native? Easy.
Italian All-in-One For Dummies appeals to those readers looking for a comprehensive, all-encompassing guide to mastering the Italian language. It contains content from all For Dummies Italian language instruction titles, including Italian For Dummies, Intermediate Italian For Dummies, Italian Verbs For Dummies, Italian Phrases For Dummies, Italian Grammar For Dummies, and Italian For Dummies Audio Set.

For example, you could say…

Per Natale ho regalato a mio figlio un morbido orsacchiotto di peluche.
For Christmas, I gave my son a soft teddy bear.

Mamma orsa controlla che tutti gli orsacchiotti la stiano seguendo.
Mama bear checks that all the bear cubs are following her.

Il cane ha strappato una cucitura del mio orsacchiotto!
The dog tore a stitch on my teddy bear!

Da bambina avevo un enorme orsacchiotto di pezza.
As a child, I had a huge stuffed teddy bear.

mama bears with two cubs

Orsetto

Orsetto is the other common translation for little bear in Italian, and it’s used as a perfectly interchangeable synonym for orsacchiotto.

Orsetto
Little bear, teddy bear

For example, you could say…

Oltre alla boccetta di profumo, mi hanno regalato un simpatico orsetto di peluche.
In addition to the perfume bottle, I received a cute teddy bear.


The -acchiotto and -etto suffixes

There are many descriptive suffixes in Italian that can describe a noun without using an adjective. The -acchiotto suffix is one of them, and it’s mainly used to describe the young of some animals, meaning “small and cute”. For example, lupacchiotto means “small and cute wolf pup”.

The –etto suffix behaves the same way. Orsetto and lupetto describe small and cute animal pups.

lone wolf facing right

There is a common and very wise Italian saying that goes non vendere la pelle dell’orso prima di averlo preso, which means “don’t count your chicken before they hatch”. It teaches us not to be in a hurry.

Non vendere la pelle dell’orso prima di averlo preso.
“Don’t sell the bearskin before you get the bear.”

There’s also a very common idiomatic expression that translates to hibernate, andare in letargo, which literally means “to go in hibernation”. For example, you could say…

Gli orsi vanno in letargo in inverno.
Bears hibernate in winter.

bear sleeping in its burrow during winter

And that’s the end of our lesson on how to say little bear in Italian!


What next?

Now that you’ve seen how to say little bear in Italian, you might want to keep learning Italian online with these free Italian resources:

Aiuta Lingookies con un 👍!

❤️ If you liked this lesson on how do you say little bear in Italian, consider sharing it with your social media friends who are also studying Italian.

Leave a Comment