sporco
/ˈspɔr.ko/
The Italian word for dirt is sporco.
The word sporco is used to refer to dirt as a substance that makes things unclean. It can function as both a noun, meaning 'dirt' and an adjective, meaning 'dirty'.
Meaning: soil or earth (noun)
Which one should you use?
While sporco refers to dirt as a substance that makes things unclean, use terra when referring to soil, earth or the ground in a geological or gardening context.
How does it change in a sentence?
As a noun meaning 'the dirt', it takes the masculine singular article lo (as in lo sporco) because it begins with 's' followed by a consonant. When used as an adjective, sporco must agree in gender and number with the noun it modifies. For example, use sporca to describe a feminine noun.
How do you pronounce it?
The word has 2 syllables, with the stress on the first syllable. The IPA is /ˈspɔr.ko/.
Did you know?
- The word sporco is a linguistic 'imposter' that may have been influenced by the word porco, meaning 'pig'. While they have different origins, the phonetic similarity in Italian led people to associate the two through a process called contamination.
- While sporco is the general word for dirt, Italians use the term fango specifically for 'mud'. Using sporco to describe a muddy road would sound unnatural to a native speaker.
- To describe something that is 'filthy' or 'extremely dirty', Italians often use the intensified adjective sporchissimo rather than adding an adverb like 'very'.
Examples in context
- Hai dello sporco sotto le unghie.You have dirt under your fingernails.This sentence shows how to describe having sporco under fingernails.Tatoeba #664404 by Guybrush88, translation #663265 by darinmex
- Ho scrollato lo sporco dai pantaloni.I wiped the dirt off my pants.This sentence demonstrates the action of removing sporco from clothing.Tatoeba #8349240 by jacopofar, translation #2889142 by wnieboer
- Il sapone aiuta a rimuovere lo sporco.Soap helps remove the dirt.This sentence shows how soap is used to remove sporco.Tatoeba #4548924 by Guybrush88, translation #272214 by CM
- 2 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Matteo and Giulia are gardening together.
- MatteoC'è troppo sporco sulle tue mani, Giulia.There is too much dirt on your hands, Giulia.
- GiuliaSì, stavo piantando i fiori.Yes, I was planting the flowers.
- MatteoVai a lavare via tutto lo sporco.Go wash all the dirt away.
- GiuliaHai ragione, vado subito.You are right, I'm going now.
Sources
- Pronunciation: Wiktionary entry sporco, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries sporco, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
