Piano is a multipurpose word in Italian. It has tons of meanings!
It can mean softly when you are describing the way someone’s doing something.
As a noun, piano means floor or story when you’re talking about buildings.
But piano can also mean plan!
And finally, piano is also a shorter way of saying pianoforte, the musical instrument.
There are a lot of nouns that end in ‑ion in English that end in ‑ione in Italian.
La situazione non è facile.
The situation is not easy.
Questa è un'occasione speciale.
This is a special occasion.
These words are usually feminine.
La versione inglese è perfetta.
The English version is perfect.
La tua presentazione è davvero interessante.
Your presentation is very interesting.
And the plural forms of these words usually end in ‑ioni.
Quelle sono decisioni buone.
Those are good decisions.
Italian words that end in ‑tà like società don’t change their ending in the plural!
La loro società è molto diversa.
Their society is very different.
Qual è il livello di difficoltà?
What is the level of difficulty?
Vieni da me se hai delle difficoltà.
Come to me if you have difficulties.
Le autorità hanno fermato una terza persona.
The authorities have stopped a third person.
These words are easy to remember, though — they all match up with English words ending in ‑ty (like society and authority).