Ciao a tutti. May I ask if there's any difference between 'mattina' and 'mattino'? I see both expressions used often and feel really confused. Thanks in advance for your help!
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Welcome to Italian.SE!– Charo ♦Commented Aug 12, 2020 at 6:38
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Note also another closely related term: mattinata - treccani.it/vocabolario/mattinata– HachiCommented Aug 12, 2020 at 9:14
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1 Answer
The two terms are mostly interchangeable, apart from some ready-made phrases which would sound a little strange if the other word is used:
Il mattino ha l'oro in bocca (the morning is precious, it has gold in its mouth)
Here, using "mattina" ("La mattina ha l'oro in bocca") would be equally correct, but the sentence would be different from the well established one. The same for:
Il buon giorno si vede dal mattino (a good day announces itself from the morning)
The feminine form can be, and is used, alone, when also specifying "ieri" (yesterday) or "domani" (tomorrow), or some other day specification like "domenica" (sunday): "ieri mattina"/"domani mattina"/"domenica mattina", while the masculine form usually requires a preposition ("ieri al mattino", "domani al mattino").
answered Aug 12, 2020 at 5:03
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