Il cibo era buonissimo
The English phrase "the food was very good" translates to Italian as Il cibo era buonissimo.
This phrase is used to express that a meal or specific dish tasted excellent.
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of Il cibo (the food), era (was) and buonissimo (very good).
Which one should you use?
Il cibo era buonissimo describes the quality of the food during the meal (imperfect).
How does it change in a sentence?
The verb era is the imperfect tense of essere (to be), used here to describe a continuous state or quality in the past. The superlative form buonissimo is created by adding the suffix -issimo to the adjective buono to express 'very good' or 'excellent'. You can replace buonissimo with ottimo to express that the food was excellent.
Did you know?
- In Italy, praising the food as buonissimo is often accompanied by a gesture where the fingertips are bunched together and moved up and down.
- While cibo means 'food', its linguistic cousins in Spanish and Portuguese, such as cebo, actually mean 'bait' used for fishing.
- The suffix -issimo used in buonissimo can be attached to almost any adjective to create an extreme version, a feature English lacks without adding extra words like 'very'.
Examples in context
- Il cibo era fantastico! Non ho mai mangiato così bene!The food was fantastic! I've never eaten so well!
- Il cibo era buonissimo ieri sera.The food was very good last night.
- Il cibo era buonissimo in quel ristorante.The food was very good in that restaurant.
- Dì a tutti che il cibo era buonissimo.Tell everyone that the food was very good.
Example conversation
Sofia and Francesco are leaving a restaurant.
- SofiaCom'era la cena, Francesco?How was the dinner, Francesco?
- FrancescoIl cibo era buonissimo, mi è piaciuto tutto.The food was very good, I liked everything.
- SofiaOttimo, allora chiediamo il conto.Great, then let's ask for the bill.
- FrancescoSì, andiamo.Yes, let's go.
Sources
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries buonissimo, cibo, era, il, CC BY-SA 4.0.
