You'll hear the word for “cold” all the time in Italy, especially if you’re visiting in the winter. Italians love talking about the weather to make small talk too. So it’s a perfect way to start a friendly conversation in Italian.
You’ll see how the Italian for cold is used in everyday expressions and learn how to avoid two really common mistakes.
How do you say cold in Italian?
To say cold in Italian you can say:
| Freddo | Freh-doh |
For example:
Ho freddo - I’m cold
Mi piace il freddo - I like the cold
A Milano, fa freddo in inverno - In Milan, it’s cold in the winter
Fa freddo fuori? -Is it cold outside?
Non fa molto freddo oggi a Venezia -It’s not very cold toda y in Venice
Fa troppo freddo per un tour a piedi -It’s too cold for a walking tour
Psst… As you probably noticed the way Italians talk about the cold is a bit different from English. More on this important difference below!
Fa molto freddo sul lago! Metto la sciarpa, il cappello e i guanti. - It’s very cold at the lake. I’ll put on a scarf, hat and gloves.
Are there other ways to say cold in Italian?
There are other ways to use “cold” (or freddo ) in Italian to emphasize how cold it is. They’re the ones native speakers use all the time, so if you use them, it will sound really natural.
Most of these phrases you could translate with “it’s really cold” or “it’s freezing cold”, but you can also see what they literally mean. By the way, they don’t always make sense. It’s just how Italians say it!
| Expression | Literal translation | Pronunciation |
| Fa un freddo cane | It’s a dog cold | Fah oon freh-doh kah-neh |
| Fa freddissimo | It’s really cold / It’s freezing cold | Fah freh-dee-see-moh |
| Fa un freddo…! | It’s a…cold | Fah oon freh-doh...! |
| Fa un freddo pazzesco | It’s a crazy cold | Fah oon freh-doh pah-tseh-skoh |
| Si muore di freddo | You die of cold | See mwor-eh dee freh-doh |
| Fa un freddo allucinante | It’s an extraordinary cold | Fah oon freh-doh ahl-loo-chee-nahn-teh |
| Che freddo! | How cold | Keh freh-doh! |
For example:
Fa freddissimo! Andiamo al bar -It’s freezing cold. Let’s go to the café.
Che freddo! Prendo una giacca. -How cold! I’ll bring a jacket.
Si muore di freddo! Ho bisogno di un’altra coperta. -It’s really cold! I need another blanket.
Fa freddissimo! Entriamo nel ristorante! - It’s freezing cold! Let’s go inside the restaurant!
How to say cold in Italian: common mistakes to avoid
There are two really common mistakes that learners make when talking about the cold in Italian.
1. It’s really common to translate “it’s cold” in Italian literally and say è freddo. But in Italian, you actually have to say “it makes” cold.
So:
❌È freddo -Literally: it’s cold
✅Fa freddo -Literally: it makes cold
For example:
Fa freddo e umido in Emilia-Romagna -It’s cold and humid in Emilia-Romagna
Fa troppo freddo, torniamo a casa? -It’s too cold, shall we go back home?
2. If you’re cold in Italian, you don’t say “I am cold”, but “I have cold”.
So:
❌Sono freddo -Literally: I’m cold
✅Ho freddo -Literally: I have cold
For example:
Non ho freddo. Andiamo in bici! -I’m not cold. Let’s go by bike!
Ho freddo, mangiamo dentro? -I’m cold, shall we eat inside?
Ho freddo! Prendiamo un caffè? - I’m cold! Shall we have a coffee?
Learn the Word for Cold in Italian (and Avoid this Mistake): Review
Italian for cold is freddo . Let’s review the common expressions you can use to talk about the cold.
| Fa freddo | It’s cold | Fah freh-doh |
| Ho freddo | I’m cold | Oh freh-doh |
| Fa un freddo cane | It’s a dog cold | Fah oon freh-doh kah-neh |
| Fa freddissimo | It’s really cold / It’s freezing cold | Fah freh-dee-see-moh |
| Fa un freddo…! | It’s a…cold | Fah oon freh-doh...! |
| Fa un freddo pazzesco | It’s a crazy cold | Fah oon freh-doh pah-tseh-skoh |
| Si muore di freddo | You die of cold | See mwor-eh dee freh-doh |
| Fa un freddo allucinante | It’s an extraordinary cold | Fah oon freh-doh ahl-loo-chee-nahn-teh |
| Che freddo! | How cold | Keh freh-doh! |
K: Ciao a tutti e benvenuti! Hi everyone and welcome to “Learn Italian with Joy of Languages”.
M: In this episode, you’ll get to learn about the Italian word for cold. It’s a really useful word to use at the moment because right now it’s cold in lots of parts of Italy.
K: We have a winter here too, especially in the North! But before we get started, can we ask you a quick favore ? If you’re listening to this on your podcast app, could you click the “follow” or “subscribe” button? This way every time there’s a new episode for you to listen to you’ll get a notification, and you’ll help our podcast grow so that we can keep making free lessons like this one. Grazie!
There’s one word that we can use in Italian to say cold.
M: Freddo (x2)
K: In this conversation, you’ll hear about something Matteo does that really annoys me (sorry we like to involve you in our couple disputes!)
M: You’ll also hear some of the different ways Italians might use this word in a normal conversation.
K: Che freddo!
M: Hai freddo?
K: In soggiorno sì!
M: Ma non fa freddo.
K: Ahh, tutte le finestre sono aperte!
M: La mattina fa bene cambiare aria
K: Sì, se non muoio di freddo prima!
K: One way to show that you think it’s really cold is by saying:
M: Che freddo! - How cold! Literally:
Che - what
freddo - cold
K: It’s an exclamation, so it’s showing your strong feelings about the cold. You might say it when the cold really hits you, like when you step outside and notice straight away how cold it is. Or if you’re cold in a room and can’t help pointing out “brr, it’s cold in here”.
M: So “how cold” is:
che freddo (x2)
Then Matteo asked me
M: Hai freddo? - Are you cold? Literally:
Hai - you have
Freddo - cold
K: In Italian, if you’re talking about someone being cold, they don’t say you “are” cold, they say you “have” cold. It makes sense, really, because you’re not saying you’re always cold, just that in that moment, you’re feeling cold.
M: But because in English, you say “I am cold”, a common mistake is to translate this literally into Italian and say something like “sono freddo”. Instead, remember to say “I have cold”:
M: Ho freddo (x2)
K: or “you have cold”, which is what Matteo asked me:
M: Hai freddo? (x2)
K: And I replied:
M: In soggiorno sì! - In the living room, yes!
In - in
Soggiorno - living room
Sì - yes
K: Matteo didn’t think it was too cold in his study, so he said
M: Ma non fa freddo - But it’s not cold. Literally:
Ma - But
Non - not
Fa - it makes
Freddo - cold
M: Fa freddo (it’s cold) or non fa freddo (it’s not cold) are really handy phrases to talk about what the weather’s like.
K: Here’s another sentence where it’s really common to make a mistake. Even advanced learners can get it wrong. In Italian, you wouldn’t say literally “it is cold”, or è freddo . You say “it makes cold”.
M: Fa freddo - Literally, it makes cold.
Fa freddo.
K: Then I realised why I was feeling the cold, in the living room I noticed:
M : Ahh, tutte le finestre sono aperte! - Ahh, all the windows are open. Literally:
Tutte - all
Le - the
Finestre - windows
Sono - are
Aperte - open
K: Matteo has this habit of opening the windows in the morning. Even if it’s really cold outside. And he always tells me:
M: La mattina fa bene cambiare aria - In the morning it’s good to let some fresh air in. Literally: La - the
Mattina - morning
Fa - it does
Bene - well
Cambiare - to change
Aria - air
K: In Italy, it’s really common for people to think that you should let some fresh air in, especially in the morning after everything has been closed for the night.
M: I’m not the only one who has this morning ritual. Italians think it’s good for you.
K: The only thing is, you leave all the windows wide open in the morning and then go to the café downstairs for a coffee. And you leave me here in the cold!
M: [...]
K: Then I said:
M: Sì, se non muoio di freddo prima! – Yes, if I don’t freeze to death first! Literally:
Sì - Yes
Se - if
Non - not
Muoio - I die
Di - of
Freddo - cold
Prima - first
K: This is a funny, dramatic way of saying that you’re so cold you might not last much longer! Not literally of course. It’s a bit like how we might say “I’m starving” in English when we’re hungry.
Muoio , which literally means “I die”, is hard to pronounce because it has lots of vowels! MWO–EE–OH (x2).
M: Muoio (x2)
K: I’m dying of cold
M: Muoio di freddo
M: Let’s see what you can remember about the expressions with cold in Italian, so you can also avoid the common mistakes.
K: How would you say are you cold? Just a little reminder: Italians would say “you have cold”.
[...]
M: Hai freddo? (x2).
K: How would you say “it’s not cold”, like if you were talking about it not being cold outside? And remember here, I don’t want to say “it is” cold, but “it makes cold”. Literally “not, it makes, cold”:
[...]
M: Non fa freddo (x2)
And if you wanted to be really dramatic and say “I’m dying from the cold?”
[...]
M: Muoio di freddo! (x2)
K: Let’s listen to the whole conversation again.
K: Che freddo!
M: Hai freddo?
K: In soggiorno sì!
M: Ma non fa freddo.
K: Ahh, tutte le finestre sono aperte!
M: La mattina fa bene cambiare aria
K: Sì, se non muoio di freddo prima!
M: Now you know the Italian word for “cold” is freddo .
K: Talking about the weather is a great way to start a conversation and connect with Italians.
M: To review what you learned today, and learn some more common small talk expressions with freddo , you can go to our blog post! Just click the link in the description or visit italian.joyoflanguages.com/podcast and search for episode 170.
M: See you next time.
K: Or as we say in Italian.
Alla prossima!
Learn the Word for Cold in Italian (and Avoid this Mistake): Quiz and Vocabulary Cards
Time to check your understanding and remember everything you just learned! Below you’ll find a mini-quiz and some vocabulary cards to help it all go in.
Quiz
How much did you learn? Find out in the quiz!
Click here to take the quiz for this episode: Learn the Word for Cold in Italian
Vocabulary
Fa freddo fuori? = Is it cold outside?
Non fa molto freddo oggi = It’s not very cold today
Fa troppo freddo per un tour a piedi = It’s too cold for a walking tour
Mi piace il freddo = I like the cold
Fa freddissimo = It’s really cold
Ho freddo = I’m cold
Che freddo! = How cold
Hai freddo? = Are you cold?
Non fa freddo = It’s not cold
Muoio di freddo = I’m dying of cold
Flashcards: Learn the Word for Cold in Italian
Not sure how it works? Click here to watch the tutorial
