Archive for March, 2012
Asparagi Posted by Serena on Mar 14, 2012
Oggi è una bellissima giornata di primavera: il cielo è di un azzurro intenso, il sole comincia a riscaldare la terra e gli animi, le margheritine di campo fanno timidamente capolino assieme alle violette e alle primule fra l’erba ancora bruciata dal freddo inverno. Today is a beautiful spring day: the sky is a deep…
Il Verbo Andare – Part 1 Posted by Geoff on Mar 12, 2012
Andare (to go) is one of the most frequently used Italian verbs, and it’s very important to master its use. It’s an irregular verb, and has many idiomatic uses. So let’s start with the basics and take a look at its most common uses: 1. Talking about the present il presente (the present tense): io…
Artemisia Gentileschi Posted by Serena on Mar 9, 2012
Yesterday, the 8th of March, was la Giornata Internazionale della Donna (International Women’s Day), and to celebrate the occasion I’m going to dedicate a post to the most famous Italian female artist of the Renaissance, Artemisia Gentileschi. Artemisia was born in Rome on the 8th of July 1593, daughter of Orazio Gentileschi, an accomplished Florentine…
Si Impersonale – Part 3 Posted by Serena on Mar 7, 2012
In this third part of my blog dedicated to the si impersonale, I’ll discuss its use when combined with other pronouns. Let’s start with ‘ne’ (of it /them, about it /them), that nasty little word that I discussed some time ago in this blog: Ne 1. Si impersonale + ne The impersonal pronoun si always…
Lucio Dalla Posted by Serena on Mar 5, 2012
Lucio Dalla, one the most beloved Italian singer-songwriters, died from a heart attack last Thursday morning, the 1st of March, only three days before his sixty ninth birthday. At the time of his death he was in Switzerland, where he had performed a concert the previous night as part of his European concert tour. Lucio…
Il Linguaggio del Giardinaggio Posted by Serena on Mar 2, 2012
In my last gardening blog La mia battaglia col giardino I had intended to give you a bit more gardening vocabulary … but full of enthusiasm, after what seemed like an interminable prigionia invernale (winter captivity), I got a bit carried away, and ran out of space! Dunque, in compensation, this is going to be…