Italian Your Way

With Father’s Day (Festa del Papà) quickly approaching, this is a good time to learn how to say “Dad” and other family members in Italian. “Dad” is “papà.” The accent on the a is very important, because without it, you would be referring to the pope. The word for “father” is “padre.”

Depending on where you are in Italy, you may hear different words for “Dad.” In the Tuscany region, “Babbo” is also used for “Dad,” and “Babbino” is used for “Daddy” like in the famous song, “O Mio Babbino Caro.” To hear the song and read the lyrics, you can check out my post about it.

The following are other members of la famiglia: madre (mother), mamma (mom), sorella (sister), fratello (brother), figlio (son), figlia (daughter), cugino/a (cousin), nipote (niece, nephew, grandson, or granddaughter), nonno (grandfather), nonna (grandmother), zia (aunt), and zio (uncle).

We can’t forget about the in-laws and step-family members: suocero (father-in-law), suocera (mother-in-law, and my favorite family word because it sounds like sorcerer, coincidence?), cognata (sister-in-law), cognato (brother-in-law), patrigno (stepfather), matrigna (stepmother), figliastro (stepson), figliastra (stepdaughter), sorellastra (stepsister), and fratellastro (stepbrother).

Thanks for stopping by and for all the padri out there, “Buona Festa del Papà!”