la nostra famiglia
/la ˈnɔs.tra faˈmiʎ.ʎa/word by word
In Italian, "our family" is la nostra famiglia.
This phrase is used to refer to the group of people who are related to both the speaker and the person being addressed.
What does it mean word for word?
Literally, the phrase translates to "the our family" because Italian requires the use of a definite article before possessive adjectives.
Is it said differently in some regions?
In the Calabrian dialect, the phrase is expressed as La nàusta famija.
How does it change in a sentence?
The possessive adjective nostra must agree in gender and number with the noun famiglia, which is feminine singular. If you wish to express the plural "our families", both the article and the possessive must change to match the feminine plural noun famiglie, resulting in le nostre famiglie.
Did you know?
- The word famiglia originally referred not to blood relatives, but to the group of servants and domestic staff living in a household.
- In Italy, the phrase la nostra famiglia often encompasses a much wider network than the English 'nuclear family', routinely including cousins, aunts and uncles as core members.
- While famiglia means 'family', the Italian word for 'household' is nucleo familiare, highlighting a linguistic distinction between emotional kinship and legal residency.
Examples in context
- La nostra famiglia è grande.Our family is big.This sentence is useful for describing the size of the family using la nostra famiglia.Tatoeba #12428723 by Guybrush88, translation #12270058 by CK
- La nostra famiglia è molto felice.Our family is very happy.This sentence is useful for describing the happiness of the family using la nostra famiglia.Tatoeba #7583528 by Guybrush88, translation #5744723 by CM
- La nostra famiglia è molto povera.Our family is very poor.This sentence is useful for describing the wealth of the family using la nostra famiglia.Tatoeba #12311703 by Guybrush88, translation #12311526 by CK
- La nostra famiglia è molto unita.Our family is very close-knit.
- Vieni a casa nostra stasera, la nostra famiglia vuole passare del tempo insieme.Come to our house tonight, our family wants to spend time together.
- La nostra famigliola è andata in vacanza al mare.Our little family went on vacation to the seaside.
- 21 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Giulia and Matteo are discussing their upcoming holiday plans.
- GiuliaDobbiamo organizzare una cena per la nostra famiglia.We need to organize a dinner for our family.
- MatteoSì, è un'ottima idea, Giulia.Yes, it's a great idea, Giulia.
- GiuliaVuoi invitare tutti i cugini?Do you want to invite all the cousins?
- MatteoCertamente, saranno felici di vederti.Certainly, they will be happy to see you.
Sources
- IPA marked “word by word” joins the Wiktionary pronunciations of each word (la, nostra, famiglia) and can differ in connected speech.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries famiglia, la, nostra, CC BY-SA 4.0.
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
