How To Say: Words of Endearment in Italian

Italians are warm and friendly people who like to express their affection and often use terms of endearment when talking to their family and friends and to children; often, they will use affectionate nicknames, like caro/a or bello/a, even with someone they don’t know well.

Here are some of the most common:

Caro/cara - dear
Tesoro – darling (translates literally to ‘treasure’)
Amore – love
Stella/stellina – literally, ‘star’
Gioia – literally, ‘joy’
Angelo – angel, to express gratitude, i.e. grazie per l’aiuto, sei un angelo – thanks for your help, you’re an angel.

Note that most of the following are especially used with children and between boyfriend and girlfriend:

Piccolo/a - Piccolino/a – little one
Tato/a – no meaning
Cucciolo/a – literally, ‘puppy’
Passerotto/a – literally, 'sparrow chick', used especially with and to refer to children, i.e. come stanno i passerotti? How are the kids?
Patatino/a – little potato
Topolino/a - little mouse

As you wander the streets of Italy you are likely to see "torno subito" scribbled on a sign in a shop window, this means "I'll be right back". However, you may find that what this really means is "torno prima o poi", which is "I'll be back sooner or later"!

Some commonly used Italian verbs!