Skip to content

masticare

to chew

verb mah-stee-KAH-reh Rare

Origin: Latin masticare

Also means

to masticate

Usage Note

Masticare uses avere as its auxiliary in compound tenses: ho masticato. It can be used figuratively — masticare un po' di inglese means to have a basic grasp of English, not literally chew it.

Examples

"Mastica lentamente il cibo."

Natural Translation

Chew the food slowly.

Explore Italian by topic