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grattare

to scratch

verb graht-TAH-reh Rare

Also means

to grate

Usage Note

Grattare takes avere as its auxiliary. It covers scratching an itch (grattarsi reflexively), scraping a surface, or grating food (though grattugiare is more specific for grating cheese). The informal noun gratta e vinci ('scratch and win') refers to scratch-card lottery tickets.

Examples

"Il gatto graffia e gratta il divano."

Natural Translation

The cat claws and scratches the sofa.

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