Three for the price of two

No, I’m not talking about the -30% offer on e-books in our shop (not this time, at least.)

But about this useful exercise on compound words in Italian.

‘asciugare’ (to dry) + ‘mano’ (hand) = l’asciugamano (towel)

See?

Three words for the price of two!

The problem, apparently, is to determine the plural:

il portachiavi remains the same: i portachiavi

but

l’asciugamano changes its ending: gli asciugamani

You can find out more about three for two words on this page, which is part of our B2 level free Italian course (members only, but it’s free to join!)

While on the subject of compound words in Italian, I thought I’d mention how, for about a decade, I used the term “scuolapasta” to refer to the piece of kitchen equipment you use to separate the cooked pasta from the water it was boiled in (pictured).

Thought it was a strange term: school + pasta = colander/strainer

??

What the hell did schools have to do with it?

Still, nobody corrected me… so it must be OK, right?

Oops!

‘scolare’ (to drain) +  ‘pasta’ = lo scolapasta

 

Have you experienced similar misunderstandings with Italian words? Leave a comment!