festeggiare
/fes.tedˈd͡ʒa.re/
To celebrate in Italian is festeggiare.
festeggiare is used when you engage in joyful activity to appreciate an event or occasion. If you want to express the idea of rejoicing, you would use esultare and if you want to say "to have a party", you would use fare una festa.
Meaning: to engage in joyful activity in appreciation of an event (verb)
Which one should you use?
While festeggiare is used for partying or celebrating an occasion with joy, the word celebrare is used for more formal contexts such as ceremonies, religious rites or official commemorations.
How does it change in a sentence?
The third-person singular present tense of festeggiare is festeggia, and the gerund form is festeggiando.
How do you pronounce it?
The word is pronounced /fes.tedˈdʒa.re/. It has 4 syllables, with the stress on the 3rd syllable.
Did you know?
- When Italians festeggiare a saint's day, the celebration often involves a 'processione', where a statue of the saint is carried through the streets.
- While festeggiare is the common word for partying, the word festa also means 'holiday'. This means you can use the same root word to describe both a private birthday party and a national public holiday.
- The suffix '-eggiare' in festeggiare is a common way in Italian to turn a noun into a verb that describes an action or a behavior related to that noun.
Examples in context
- Adesso è ora di festeggiare.Now, it's time to celebrate.This sentence shows how to express that it is time to celebrate using festeggiare.Tatoeba #4515488 by Guybrush88, translation #1476652 by Spamster
- Non c'è nulla da festeggiare.There's nothing to celebrate.This sentence uses festeggiare to express that there is nothing to celebrate.Tatoeba #4220312 by Guybrush88, translation #3825828 by CK
- Stiamo uscendo a festeggiare.We're going out to celebrate.This sentence uses festeggiare to describe the act of going out to celebrate.Tatoeba #5798399 by Guybrush88, translation #3311134 by CK
- Abbiamo festeggiato il nostro anniversario con una cena romantica.We celebrated our anniversary with a romantic dinner.
- Ogni anno celebriamo il Natale con una messa in chiesa.Every year we celebrate Christmas with a church service.
- Dopo aver superato gli esami, abbiamo fatto festa tutta la notte.After passing our exams, we partied all night long.
- 42 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Chiara and Matteo are talking about a recent success at work.
- ChiaraMatteo, abbiamo vinto il progetto!Matteo, we won the project!
- MatteoChe bella notizia, dobbiamo festeggiare!What great news, we must celebrate!
- ChiaraHai un'idea per festeggiare?Do you have an idea for celebrating?
- MatteoPossiamo andare a cena fuori.We can go out for dinner.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “celebrate” translations and entries festeggiare, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
