Carino is a very common word in Italian and it has different meanings.
How do you use the adjective carino in Italian? What does it mean? How do you pronounce it?
In this lesson, we will look at how to use this word with the help of many audio recordings and example sentences. Read on to learn everything you need to know! Let’s get started!
How to use carino in Italian
Meaning of carino in Italian
As we said, carino is a very common Italian adjective. Most of the time it can be translated into English as cute, sweet or nice. But there’s more to it than that, and if you stick with this lesson, you’ll see why.
First of all, let’s hear how carino is pronounced.
Carino
Cute, sweet, nice
Its pronunciation is close to cah-REE-no. If you have trouble pronouncing Italian sounds, check out the Italian pronunciation guide.
Now, let’s see a couple of example sentences with carino in Italian, before we look at how to use this word.
Title: Italian All-in-One For Dummies
Language: English / Italian
Publisher: For Dummies
Pages: 672
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Il cane del mio vicino è davvero carino. Ha degli occhi dolcissimi.
My neighbor’s dog is really cute. He has the sweetest eyes.
È un gesto carino da parte tua portarmi la colazione a letto.
It is a nice gesture of you to bring me breakfast in bed.
Ho comprato un regalo carino per la mia migliore amica.
I bought a nice gift for my best friend.
Questo cappello è molto carino. Lo compro!
This hat is very cute. I will buy it!
Now let’s see how to use carino in Italian.
Use of carino in Italian
Like all other adjectives in Italian, carino needs to match the noun in both gender and number.
| Singular | Plural | |
| Masculine | Carino | Carini |
| Feminine | Carina | Carine |
If you are talking about some cute girls, for example, you will need to use carine, because girls, ragazze, is a feminine plural noun in Italian.
Likewise, if you are talking about some cute drawings, you will need to use carini instead, since drawings, disegni in Italian, is a masculine plural noun.
For example, you could say…
Mi piace indossare vestiti carini quando esco con le amiche.
I like to wear nice clothes when I go out with my friends.
Abbiamo visitato un negozio di souvenir con tante cose carine da portare a casa.
We visited a gift store with many nice things to take home.
Le sue parole di incoraggiamento sono state molto carine.
His words of encouragement were very thoughtful.
Il ristorante che abbiamo provato ieri sera aveva un’atmosfera carina e accogliente.
The restaurant we tried last night had a nice and cozy atmosphere.
The most common English translation for carino in Italian is cute.
Questo micetto è molto carino!
This kitty cat is very cute!
It is also a common word for nice.
Luca è un ragazzo molto carino.
Luca is a very nice guy.
Finally, it can also mean kind.
Il tuo è stato un gesto molto carino.
Yours was a very kind gesture.
And that’s the end of our lesson on the meaning of carino in Italian!
What next?
Now that you’ve seen how to use carino in Italian, you might want to keep learning Italian online with these free Italian resources:
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