My favorite Italian words to pronounce are those that begin with s + consonant, like our example today, lo smacchiatòre.

Uno smacchiatore is a stain remover - a product you might use on clothes that you might have gotten some tomato sauce on…or perhaps some olive oil?

The word smacchiatore comes from the Italian word màcchia, which means stain. The s- before the word smacchiatore changes the meaning of many adjectives, nouns, and verb much like the use of the English prefix un- or can indicate an opposite action or meaning.

Here are a few examples that came to mind:

conosciuto known

sconosciuto unknown

gonfiare to blow up (with air)

sgonfiare to deflate

la fiducia trust

la sfiducia mistrust, distrust

contento happy

scontento unhappy

vestirsi to get dressed

svestirsi to undress

Can you think of any others? Please comment below!