Archive for the year 2011
Censimento 2011 Posted by Serena on Oct 10, 2011
About a month ago we opened the mail box to find an envelope as thick as a brick containing il censimento generale 2011 (the 2011 national census). This is the fifteenth national census, the first taking place in 1861, the year of Italy’s unification. Since then it has been repeated every 10 years, with the…
I Colori Liguri – by Geoff Posted by Serena on Oct 7, 2011
In questi giorni c’è mia sorella Viv in vacanza qui da noi. Siccome quest’anno l’estate sembra non voler finire e fa ancora bel tempo, ieri abbiamo deciso di fare un salto giù al mare. Abbiamo il nostro posto secreto, una bellisima baia tranquilla, nascosta fra scogliere e pinete. Mi dispiace, ma non vi rivelo il…
The Modal Verbs Volere, Dovere, and Potere Posted by Serena on Oct 5, 2011
The passato prossimo, as we saw in the last blog, makes use of the auxiliary verbs essere = to be, and avere = to have, in order to express an event that happened in the past, e.g.: sono andato/a = I went, ho mangiato = I ate, siamo venuti/e = we came, abbiamo visto =…
Ottobre Posted by Serena on Oct 3, 2011
Nome (Name): The month of ottobre (October) takes its name from the Latin word octo (eight) because it was the eighth month in the Roman calendar. Festività (Festivals): On the 4th of October we celebrate San Francesco d’Assisi patrono d’Italia (Saint Francis of Assisi, patron saint of Italy). When I was a child the 4th…
Passato Prossimo – Le Soluzioni Posted by Serena on Sep 30, 2011
Here are the solutions and translations for Wednesday’s exercise about the Passato Prossimo. I have also given an explanation of how to conjugate the key verbs used in the passato prossimo 1. Lo scorso fine settimana io e Geoff siamo andati a Siena, una delle nostre gite preferite. Per prima cosa abbiamo passeggiato per il…
Passato Prossimo: un Ripasso Posted by Serena on Sep 28, 2011
In a recent blog I looked at the difference in use between the two most common types of past tenses: Passato Prossimo (Present Perfect) and Imperfetto (Imperfect tense). Today I’m going to focus on the Passato Prossimo with a little exercise. Fill in the gaps in the following two short paragraphs with the correct form…
Il Croccante Posted by Serena on Sep 26, 2011
In my last blog about the Antichi Mestieri there was a photo of il banco dei dolci, which showed a cook making il croccante (literally: the crunchy). A couple of days ago, per puro caso (by sheer chance), I came across this recipe. If you want to have a go at making il croccante at…