Words by Pat Eggleton
Sometimes, but not always, “S” at the beginning of an Italian verb can be an equivalent of English “un…” .
Its addition can give a verb an opposite meaning. Some examples are:
Coprire – to cover --> scoprire – to uncover , ie., discover
Imballare – to pack --> sballare – to unpack
Caricare – to load --> scaricare – to unload or download
Fiorire – to flower --> sfiorire – to lose petals, wither
Macchiare – to stain --> smacchiare – to remove stains [you often see this verb on washing products].
Piacere – to please --> spiacere – to displease or, by extension, to be sorry. You can say “Mi spiace” or “mi dispiace” for “I’m sorry”.
