77 fruity words and phrases in Italian you'll love berry much

Can you imagine yourself in a small town by the lake in Italy, walking across Piazza Garibaldi to a colorful food stand and buying fresh fruit and vegetables for your delicious snacks and meals?

Well, if you want to be doing it one day, we recommend learning the name of fruits in Italian because you’ll definitely need to know them. Why?

Whether you visit in the colder or warmer month, it is always great to have a piece of fruit as a merenda (afternoon snack), and with your new vocab, you’ll surely impress your friends and get the “local” price at the market! (Here, knowing numbers in Italian will also come in handy. Then, remember also to know how to say thanks in Italian once you’ve bought your goodies.)

Additionally, your experience of Italian gelato (and of liquors) will dramatically improve once you know the Italian names for fruits. If you’re a fan of Italian cuisine, learning the words for different fruits and vegetables in Italian will cause you to have a lot of ah-ha moments!

In this article, we’ll look at the names of as many fruits as you can imagine, and we’ll give you the phonetic pronunciation too so that you can really sound fluent.

Free Italian fruits poster

Print out this free and fun fruits poster and stick it on your fridge. If you can memorize this list of some of the more popular fruits in Italian, you'll be on your way to sounding like a local.

How to actually say fruit in Italian

To start, let’s learn how to actually say fruit in Italian! The word is a bit tricky, as it is a collective noun: la frutta (lah froot-tah). This is singular from a grammatical point of view, but it generally indicates all fruits.

If you want to talk about a specific fruit, you can use the masculine il frutto, which indicates a “piece of fruit.”

Let’s look at some examples:

The feminine plural does NOT exist, while the masculine plural, i frutti, can be used figuratively to talk about the “results” of an action:

It can also indicate the concrete fruits of a tree, but not from a food-related perspective:

Another useful word? Fruttivendolo (froot-tee-vehn-doh-loh) is where you buy fruits in Italy!

Citrus fruits in Italian

Citrus fruits are called agrumi (ah-groo-meeh) in Italian. They’re mostly cultivated in the South of Italy, in the regions of Sicilia, Puglia, Calabria, Campania, Basilicata, and Sardegna. These are usually harvested from fall to spring and are a great source of vitamins over the winter!

Stone fruits in Italian (drupe fruits)

Frutta a nocciolo or drupa is a fruit with a soft and juicy exterior and one stone in the middle.

Note: There might be a lot of types of “pesca”, “albicocca” or “prugna”, which are usually indicated by an extra descriptive word added to the main name of the fruit.

Berries in Italian

Berries in Italian are referred to as frutti di bosco (fruits of the woods). They can be bought or harvested in the woods, in the countryside, or mountains.

Melon fruits in Italian

Prosciutto e melone (parma ham and melon) is a great summer classic. In Italy, you’ll find a lot of different varieties of this juicy fruit, which are described by an extra word after “melon”. Careful though. Watermelons have a different name!

Tropical fruits in Italian

These don’t grow in Italy. Still, it doesn’t mean we don’t eat them! Here you’ll find out how to say “pineapple” and “passion fruit” in Italian:

Pome fruits in Italian

Other fruits in Italian

Nuts in Italian

Nuts in Italian are called frutta secca (dry fruit) and they’re an essential part of many traditional recipes.

Parts of fruits in Italian

Here are some extra words that you might find useful when talking about fruits.

Which are the most popular fruits in Italy?

The most popular fruits in Italy depend on the season, of course! Most Italian people try to only eat seasonal and local food, which is better for the economy of the country and for the environment.

Here are some examples of the most popular Italian fruits divided by seasons (and if you need a refresher on the months and seasons in Italian, you know where to look).

Do you remember which fruits we’re talking about when you read the below?

Inverno (Winter)

• Arancia
• Mela
• Pera
• Kiwi
• Mandarino

Primavera (Spring)

• Albicocca
• Ciliegia
• Melone
• Fragola
• Nespola

Estate (Summer)

• Fichi
• Pesca
• Anguria
• Melone
• Fragola

Autunno (Fall)

• Cachi
• Castagna
• Melograno
• Clementine
• Uva

Expressions with fruits in Italy

We don’t only eat fruit every day in Italy, we use a lot of expressions with it, too! Here are some of the most common ones you’ll hear in everyday Italian speech.

Songs involving fruits in Italian

A great way for making Italian fruits stick in your memory is listening to Italian songs about fruit! After all, research has proven music is a great tool to help you learn a language.

Here is some music for all tastes.

La Frutta - 🍎🍐🍊 - La canzone della frutta - 🍋🍌🍉 - educativo - 🍓🥝🍒

A great kid’s song about fruit in Italian.

Gianni Morandi - Banane e lampone (Video ufficiale 1992)

Banane e lampone. This is a 90s song by the great Celentano.

Elio e le storie tese - La terra dei cachi

If you want to laugh, listen to Elio e le storie tese. Here’s La terra dei cachi.

Luca Carboni - Fragole Buone Buone

A love story told with fruits!

Some fun, final learning hacks for memorizing Italian fruit names

This one might be obvious, but it’s a good and effective one! Yes – it’s by watching cooking videos and cooking Italian food. With fruit, you can learn how to make sorbetto and gelato, a great crostata di frutta for your friend’s birthday, or a marmellata to preserve the flavors of summer fruits all winter.

One of the most popular cooking blogs in Italy is GialloZafferano.it, and if you’re vegetarian or vegan, check out the fantastic recipes by Vegolosi.it. You won’t be disappointed!

Remember, gelato will taste better if you can order it in Italian!

If you love learning Italian vocabulary – and for free — you’ll probably find some of our free Italian blog vocabulary lessons an absolute treat. Enjoy!