Italian Language… Read All About “Ema”

Kathryn Occhipinti, MD, for Learn Travel Italian.com

Interesting fact I found out recently: Italian words that end in “ema” like “problema” are masculine even though they end in the letter “a” and therefore should be feminine in Italian. The reason is because they originally come from the Greek language.

So today I have solved “un problema”! The “un” I used is the masculine word for “a” and needs to precede all of these feminine-looking but actually masculine Italian words.

Remember to use “il,” which is the masculine word for “the” before masculine words that begin with a consonant and “l” for those that begin with a vowel.

Last week, I asked the Conversational Italian! Facebook group, “How many more commonly used Italian words that end in “ema” can everyone think of?” Below are some replies. I’d love to hear more! Continue the conversation on this blog, and join us on our Facebook group if you like!

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Italian Words That End in “EMA”

“You can say, “Ho un problema.” (I have a problem.) or “Ho dei problemi.” (I have some problems.) 😉 (wink emoticon) Now you have no more problems! =D (grin emoticon)”

C’è un dilemma.    This is a dilemma/predicament.

“Un po’ di crema se si screma non crea patema e non c’è problema, cara Kathryn!” A little bit of cream if you skim it doesn’t create worries, and there is no problem, dear Kathryn!

Non c’è problema!   There is no problem!

 

 

il tema	the subject, topic, theme
il sistema	the system
l’anatema	the anathema
il teorema	the theorem, theory, hypothesis
il cinema	the film, films, movies, movie theater, film industry
il schema	the tactic, method, strategy, outline
il poema	the epic, epic poem
il clima	the climate
il fantasma	the ghost