Learn Italian: Festeggiamo il Capodanno: buon anno! - We are celebrating New Year's Day: happy New Year!

In Italian, the regular present tense like festeggiamo covers both! It can mean "we celebrate" (in general) or "we are celebrating" (right now). You do not need a separate "-ing" verb form here.

What does Capodanno literally mean?

It is made up of the words capo (head or beginning) and anno (year). It literally translates to "the head of the year", which is how Italians refer to New Year's Day!

Why do we need the article il before Capodanno?

In English, we just say "New Year's Day", but Italian often uses a definite article like il (the) before the names of holidays when they are the direct object of the verb. You are literally saying "We are celebrating the New Year's Day."

Why is it buon anno and not buono anno?

The masculine adjective buono (good) drops its final -o when placed directly before a masculine singular noun (like anno). Becoming buon anno makes the two words blend together and flow much better when speaking!