Language in use

Italian for food and cooking

Primo, secondo, al dente: the language around food, from the pot to the compliment to the kitchen.

Why this field

Many people learn Italian because of the food, and they already know plenty of words: pasta, risotto, al dente. Truly understanding recipes and menus soon shows how much grammar is in them.

Cooking is an ideal learning situation: short instructions, lots of imperatives, and at the end a result that shows whether you understood.

Sentences to say aloud

The label says where a sentence belongs. The speaker next to it reads it aloud.

1. Che cosa mi consiglia?What would you recommend?

   polite

2. Per primo prendo la pasta al pomodoro.For my first course I’ll have the pasta with tomato sauce.

   neutral The primo is the first course, usually pasta or risotto.

3. Per secondo, il pesce del giorno.For the main course, the fish of the day.

   neutral

4. Hai messo il sale nell’acqua?Have you salted the water?

   casual

5. Butta la pasta quando l’acqua bolle.Put the pasta in when the water boils.

   casual In the kitchen buttare la pasta means "to put the pasta in the water", not "to throw it away".

6. Scola la pasta al dente.Drain the pasta al dente.

   casual

7. Ci vuole un pizzico di sale.It needs a pinch of salt.

   neutral ci vuole with one thing, ci vogliono with several.

8. Assaggia, com’è?Have a taste — how is it?

   casual

9. Buon appetito!Enjoy your meal!

   neutral

10. Era tutto buonissimo, complimenti al cuoco!Everything was delicious — my compliments to the chef!

    neutral

What matters here

• A meal has a fixed order: antipasto, primo (pasta, risotto, soup), secondo (meat or fish) with a contorno (side dish), dolce.
• In recipes and in the kitchen you hear the imperative with tu: Butta la pasta. Scola. Assaggia.
• Ci vuole and ci vogliono say what you need: Ci vogliono due uova.

Try it yourself

Read the meaning, say the sentence aloud in Italian, then open it to compare.

1. What would you recommend?

   Che cosa mi consiglia?

2. For the main course, the fish of the day.

   Per secondo, il pesce del giorno.

3. Put the pasta in when the water boils.

   Butta la pasta quando l’acqua bolle.

4. It needs a pinch of salt.

   Ci vuole un pizzico di sale.

More fields

Every sentence on this page was written for EveryLingua. There are no quotations from films, series, books or songs here, and no titles or names of artists — the page shows how people talk in this field, not what somebody once said.