Archive for the year 2011
Mia Mamma o La Mia Mamma? Posted by Serena on Sep 7, 2011
As promised in Wednesday’s blog, ‘La Famiglia – Part 2’, this article will explain when we use the articolo determinativo – definite article (the), i.e. il, lo, la, i, gli, le, when talking about family members. The first thing to remember is that in Italian we always use the article before the possessive adjective (my…
La Famiglia–Part 2 Posted by Serena on Sep 5, 2011
Let’s continue with our discussion about how we name the members of our family. In part 1 we talked about the immediate family. This blog will widen out to include the extended family. mia nonna = my grandmother: la mamma di mio papà, cioè la mia nonna paterna, si chiamava Rosetta – my father’s mother…
Settembre Posted by Serena on Sep 2, 2011
Nome (Name): The month of settembre (September) takes its name from the Latin word septem (seven) because it was the seventh month in the Roman calendar. Festività (Festivals): In September we don’t have any national festivals. This is not surprising given that the long summer holidays have just finished. Settembre è il mese del rientro…
La Famiglia – Part 1 Posted by Serena on Aug 31, 2011
La Famiglia è tutto – family is everything, as we say in Italy. Let’s have a look at how we name the immediate members of our family, beginning with our parents. Here we have a classic example of un falso amico – a false friend, i.e. a word that sounds the same in both Italian…
Quanti Colori! Posted by Serena on Aug 29, 2011
Bianco, rosso, blu, giallo, verde, arancio, marrone, rosa, nero … White, red, blue, yellow, green, orange, brown, pink, black … There are so many colours! However they never seem to describe the reality that is all around us. Artists use very specific names to describe the colours that they use, e.g. rosso carminio e rosso…
Beware of the ‘B’ Words – The Easy Version Posted by Serena on Aug 24, 2011
Firstly, well done Bill Rohwer, you win first prize: a beautiful three month old kitten. Let us know when you are ready to come and collect her. Now, here’s the ‘easy version of my ‘b’ word quiz: In Italian we have a confusing group of words beginning with ‘b’ and ending with groups of vowels. …
Beware of the ‘B’ Words Posted by Serena on Aug 23, 2011
In Italian we have a confusing group of words beginning with ‘b’ and ending with groups of vowels. All of these words sound very similar, and it can take quite a while to begin to differentiate them: il boia il buio la bua il bue (plur: i buoi) il boa la boa Complete the…