How do you remember the Italian names of the various tools that you use for your DIY jobs? Here’s a useful tip.

Labels

Labels are a very effective way of memorising the names of objects. It’s a little trick that I used to use myself when I was beginning to learn Italian many years ago. We’ve often covered this topic in the past, but today I’m going to focus specifically on labelling attrezzi fai da te (DIY tools).

Below is a list of common DIY tools and their accompanying actions. I suggest that you copy the Italian names onto labels and either stick them onto the appropriate tool or, if you’re really organised, onto your pannello portautensili (tool storage board).

Lista di attrezzi

lo scalpello (the chisel) action: scalpellare (to chisel)

il martello (the hammer) action: martellare (to hammer)

il trapano (the drill) + la punta (the bit) action: trapanare (to drill)

la lima (the file) action: limare (to file)

la scala a pioli (the ladder) action: salire/scendere (to go up/down)

la scaletta (the step ladder) action: salire/scendere (to go up/down)

il pennello (the paint brush) action: pennellare (to brush)

le pinze (the pliers) action: afferrare (to grip), stringere (to tighten), torcere (to twist), tagliare (to cut)

la sega (the saw) + la sega circolare (the circular saw), la sega alternativa (the jigsaw) action: segare (to saw)

la pialla (the plane) action: piallare (to plane), lisciare (to smoothen)

la levigatrice (the sanding machine) + la carta vetrata (the sandpaper) action: levigare (to sand), lisciare (to smoothen),

il cacciavite (the screwdriver) action: avvittare/svitare (to screw/unscrew)

la chiave inglese (the spanner) action: avvittare/svitare (to screw/unscrew), stringere (to tighten), torcere (to twist)

la livella (the spirit level) action: controllare (to check) e.g. controllare che qualcosa sia orizzontale o verticale (to check that something is horizontal or vertical)

il metro (the tape measure) action: misurare (to measure)

la squadra (the square) action: mettere in squadra (to square), controllare (to check) e.g. controllare che qualcosa sia squadrata (to check that something is square)

Who knows, perhaps this will be the perfect opportunity for you to do what I’m always promising myself I’ll do: clean out and organise the tool shed ….. magari domani!