Italian phrase of the day: Oggi non so cosa dire
Oggi non so cosa dire
Today I don't know what to say
Literally: 'Today not (I) know what to-say'.
I do not feel very inspired today. It is only Tuesday morning and already I feel like I've been stuck in a routine for months. And I am in a bit in a rush to go to work, so I'll only teach you a couple of quick and easy phrases today, because
Ho fretta
I am in a hurry
Literally: '(I) have hurry'.
If you want to find out more
Many English expressions that are rendered with 'I am' turn into 'I have' in Italian, a language in which you can have sleep (be sleepy), have hunger, have thirst, have hurry, have need…
The letter 'h' is always silent in Italian. It can be used in foreign words, or sometimes (like here in 'ho') it is a historical reference to the ancient Latin form of the word. Which I'm afraid complicates things a bit, because 'to have' = 'avere' but 'I have' = 'ho'. I never said this was going to be easy.
I am not sure if I've already told you this, but turning a sentence into its negative form is very easy: just stick a 'non' before the verb (action). It works for all persons (I, you, she, they…) and for all tenses (present, future, past).
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