Episode 29 · Words That Actually Come Up
Un latte? Why you get milk at an Italian bar
Sam ordered un latte at an Italian bar and got exactly that: a glass of milk. In Italian, latte just means milk.
Laura is behind the bar and Sam orders the way he would at home. She serves him what he asked for, then helps him find the word for coffee with milk.
Laura ·
In this lesson
| Italian | Word for word | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| Un latte | a milk | a glass of milk |
| Un caffellatte | a coffee-milk | coffee with hot milk |
| Un latte macchiato | a stained milk | hot milk with a dash of coffee |
| Cosa prende? | what do you take? | what will you have? (polite) |
On its own, latte is just milk. For coffee with milk ask for un caffellatte; un latte macchiato is milk with only a dash of coffee. Italians usually drink caffellatte at breakfast.
SOURCES - https://www.treccani.it/vocabolario/latte/ - https://www.treccani.it/vocabolario/caffellatte/ - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Latte - https://italian.joyoflanguages.com/podcast/coffee-in-italian
What did you order the first time at an Italian bar? Tell me in the comments!
The dialogue
Every line from the video, with the English meaning under the Italian.
Laura
Buongiorno, Sam! Cosa prende?
Good morning, Sam! What will you have?
Sam✗ Mistake
Un latte, per favore!
A milk, please!
Laura
Ecco a lei: un bel bicchiere di latte!
Here you go: a nice glass of milk!
Sam
Milk? But I wanted a coffee.
Laura
In Italia, latte è solo latte. E con il caffè?
In Italy, latte is just milk. And with coffee?
Sam✓ Correct
Ah! Un caffellatte, per favore!
Ah! A coffee with milk, please!
Laura
Perfetto! Caffellatte: caffè e latte.
Perfect! Caffellatte: coffee and milk.
Sam
Okay... and the milk?
Laura
Lo beva! Fa bene alle ossa.
Drink it! It's good for your bones.
The voices in this video are synthetic and the on-screen host is generated. The Italian itself is written and checked by a native speaker.
Ready to speak, not just watch?
Practise these phrases out loud with Laura in a small group or a private lesson.
Find your Italian class