/ˈpjɔve a katiˈnɛlle/ lit. ‘it’s raining by the basin’
Italian idiom, everyday. It is raining very heavily.
Draft Not yet checked by a native Italian speaker.
How do people use Piove a catinelle
?
Everyday Italian, fine with anyone. It bends like any weather verb: “pioveva a catinelle”, “sta piovendo a catinelle”, “è piovuto a catinelle tutta la notte”. The catinelle stay plural whatever the tense.
Piove a catinelle
in real sentences
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Piove a catinelle.
It’s raining cats and dogs.
Tatoeba, sentence by Guybrush88, translation by Dorenda, CC BY 2.0 FR
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Pioveva a catinelle.
It rained cats and dogs.
Tatoeba, sentence by Guybrush88, translation by niceguydave, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does Piove a catinelle
come from?
A catinella is a small basin, the diminutive of catino. The picture is rain coming down as if someone were emptying basins out of the sky, the same idea as Spanish “a cántaros” (by the pitcher) or English “raining buckets”. English Wiktionary lists the phrase under catinella but gives no date or first use, and we found no reliable record of when it started.
Mistakes learners make with Piove a catinelle
Making it singular. It’s always “a catinelle”, never “a catinella”. And don’t translate the English: “piove cani e gatti” means nothing to an Italian.
Other Italian idioms like Piove a catinelle
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