bambina
/bamˈbi.na/feminine
The Italian phrase for "little girl" is bambina.
bambina is a feminine noun used to refer to a female child. If you want to emphasize that the girl is very young, you can use the phrases piccola bambina or piccola bimba.
Meaning: a female child (noun)
How does it change in a sentence?
The feminine singular form is bambina. To refer to multiple little girls, use the plural form bambine. When using the definite article for the plural, use le bambine.
How do you pronounce it?
The word has 3 syllables, with the stress on the second syllable (/bamˈbi.na/).
Did you know?
- The word bambina comes from bambino, which is likely derived from the baby talk sounds infants make, such as 'ba-ba'.
- If you call an adult woman bambina in a teasing way, it can be seen as condescending, similar to calling an adult woman a 'baby' in English. It is strictly reserved for children or very close, playful relationships.
- The word bambina shares an interesting phonetic resemblance to the word for 'doll', which is bambola. Because of this, the two words are often mentally linked by Italian speakers when describing something small and cute.
Examples in context
- È un bambino o una bambina?Is it a little boy or a little girl?This sentence is useful for distinguishing between a boy and a girl.Tatoeba #4917980 by valealb, translation #4918089 by gcaplan
- La bambina gli fece la lingua.The little girl stuck out her tongue at him.This sentence shows an example of a girl's behavior toward someone.Tatoeba #1546134 by Guybrush88, translation #324798 by CK
- La bambina è scoppiata a piangere.The little girl burst into tears.This sentence illustrates a girl starting to cry.Tatoeba #9541712 by PVTranslator, translation #46455 by CK
- La bambina è molto carina.The little girl is very cute.
- La bambina sta giocando nel parco.The little girl is playing in the park.
- La bambina ha otto anni.The little girl is eight years old.
- La bimba è molto vivace.The little girl is very lively.
- La bimba sta giocando con il suo nonno.The little girl is playing with her grandfather.
- La bimba ama i suoi dolci preferiti.The little girl loves her favorite sweets.
- 12 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Sofia and Alessandro are at a park watching children play.
- AlessandroGuarda quella bambina che corre.Look at that little girl running.
- SofiaSì, è davvero veloce!Yes, she is really fast!
- AlessandroLa bambina sembra molto felice.The little girl seems very happy.
- SofiaÈ vero, si diverte molto.It's true, she is having a lot of fun.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “little girl” translations and entries bambina, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
