Food vocabulary is essential for daily life in Italy. Common items include l'acqua (water, feminine), il pane (bread), il vino (wine), il caffè (coffee), il formaggio (cheese), la carne (meat), il pesce (fish), la frutta (fruit), and il gelato (ice cream). Notice that Italian nouns carry gender, which is reflected in their articles: acqua takes l' because it starts with a vowel, while pane, vino, caffè, formaggio, pesce, and gelato are masculine with il. Meals have specific names that structure the day: la colazione is breakfast, il pranzo is lunch, and la cena is dinner.
Family members have dedicated vocabulary with both formal and informal versions. "Mother" can be la madre (formal) or la mamma (informal), and "father" is il padre or il papà. Children are il figlio (son) and la figlia (daughter), while siblings are il fratello (brother) and la sorella (sister). Grandparents are il nonno and la nonna, spouses are il marito (husband) and la moglie (wife), and the family as a whole is la famiglia. In daily speech, Italians often prefer the informal terms (mamma, papà) even as adults.
Telling time and expressing dates requires a set of key terms. To ask the time, say "Che ora è?" or "Che ore sono?" For 3 o'clock, Italians say "Sono le tre"; for 1 o'clock, "È l'una"; and for noon and midnight, "È mezzogiorno" and "È mezzanotte." Days of the week (lunedì, martedì, mercoledì, giovedì, venerdì, sabato, domenica) and months (gennaio through dicembre) are not capitalized in Italian, unlike English. Time-related adverbs include oggi (today), domani (tomorrow), ieri (yesterday), la mattina (morning), il pomeriggio (afternoon), and la sera (evening).