How do you say SUGAR in Italian?

How exactly do you say sugar in Italian?

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

Zucchero
Sugar

Let’s get started! Iniziamo!

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How do you say sugar in Italian?

Zucchero

Zucchero is how you translate sugar into Italian.

It is a masculine noun, so it uses the article lo (definite, lo zucchero). 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.

Its pronunciation is similar to tsook-keh-row and it comes from the Arabic word sukkar, “sugar”. Make sure the final -o has a clean sound, because Italian vowels are clean!

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?

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Kinds of sugar in Italian

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)

For example, you could 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.

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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.

➡️ Do you like sweet things? Read the lesson on how to say chocolate in Italian!

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.

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.

Fai caramellare lo zucchero in un pentolino per qualche minuto.
Caramelize the sugar in a pan for a few minutes.

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Idioms featuring sugar in Italian

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.

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.

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

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